I recently saw on Facebook where a friend of mine who recently had a baby, photographed her own daughter’s newborn session. And did I mention she isn’t a photographer? With everything going on with the Coronavirus and everyone (hopefully) quarantining themselves, she had to get creative and create lemonade out of lemons. So, she reached out to some of her friends who were photographers and they walked her through everything she needed to know and do! Like, the type of lighting she needed to use, how to style the setup and how to swaddle the baby like those magic newborn photographers do! She made her own headbands because she didn’t have any, she found objects from around her house to style the flatlays, and she used all the little tips and tricks they offered. And when she was done, they even edited the photos FOR her! As she told me this, I couldn’t help but be amazed and warmed by the camaraderie of it all.
And this caused me to sit back and think about where all I’ve seen this happening throughout our society right now.
People are promoting businesses that are able to comply with the regulations like curbside pick up or online delivery. Photographers are offering front porch specials where they can photograph families from a safe distance. People who are out of work are offering to do jobs for anyone who needs it. They are setting their pride and ego aside to either put themselves out there or to come together to help others in any way that they can.
And I know, for our family, things have changed so much, so quickly. We are spending more time together as a family than ever before. We are having to get creative with just about everything. For example, how does one get work done with two cabin fevered kiddos? (Even as I write this, my 3-year-old is offering me her snack while pretending to be a horse. A really loud horse!) We’ve had to figure out how to stay on top of our 8-year old’s school work from a laptop. And have I mentioned mealtime? The fact that grocery trips look more like ‘grab what’s available’ rather than shopping from a carefully crafted list means I’ve had to think outside the box when it comes to putting meals together.
It has shifted our thinking on just about every level and I’m grateful for that.
I’m not trying to downplay the seriousness of what’s happening, or the lives being risked or lost, but I do think that as a society and culture we are coming together and changing in ways that wouldn’t have been possible, and THAT is a beautiful thing.
Listen, I know this is isn’t the easiest of times, but how about this….
Let’s make some mother f*cking lemonade out of these Corona Virus lemons!
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