I personally love photography as it enables me to capture and focus on what is special about each individual.  One thing that almost all the women that I photograph have in common is they don’t see the beauty that  they bring to the world…this is what sparked the creation of the real women series of guest blogs.  I wanted to introduce everyday women that I find beautiful and ask them the question of what is beauty to them.  My hope is for us to be able to redefine beauty and speak it with confidence so that the future generation of women can say proudly “…this is why I am beautiful!”.

I would like to introduce you to one of many beautiful women, meet Christine Walker-Jordan… these are her words.

I am a Woman, a Daughter, a Lover, a Fighter, a Wife, a Mother, a Dreamer, a Writer, a Thinker, a Breather, a Hustler, a Changer—I’m Me!

Woman - Beautiful, Strong, Laborious, Life-giving, Aid

Daughter - trusted friend and apprentice (at least in my experience)

Lover - Love is at the core of who I am. Everything that I do that is worth anything is rooted in Love and this I think qualifies me to be a Lover-You’ll get a better picture of this by posts end (phew)

Fighter - I’ve always been one but this aspect really came into play when I had my kids. Got struck with a good old case of MBS (Momma Bear Syndrome) and this apparently can appear at the slightest glimpse of anything that may threaten the balance of my family.

Wife (of 1) – Soul Mate and Friend

Mother (of 3) – I see the role of the mother as being a Nurturer, Confidant and a gift to those she is mothering (just to name a few) -took a while for me to see it but I am beginning to understand better that as much of a prize and a privilege my children are to me I am also this to them.

Dreamer – I spend a lot of time dreaming. Mostly daydreaming even at night because I find with all the stuff I am keeping myself busy with I don’t get much time for sleep.

Writer - This keeps me busy. I write music, create stories for my kids -mostly about my kids so they can relate and have something of their own and I share what I do with others so I recently assumed the role of Blogger.

Thinker - I am big on thinking and pondering. Right now I mostly think about the future and what’s next. I call it Thinker but it is for sure a close relative of the Dreamer person.

Breather - To me being a “Breather” is a representation of expression and life. Everyone has their own way of doing it and enhancing their existence. I often find myself breathing best with a pen and pad.

Hustler – I make it a habit to bust my backside to make sure my family is taken care of, no one goes without the things they need and I try to provide enough flexibility to pull our daydreams into reality.

Changer - Yup, this is the sum of all of the above roles I listed.

It’s kind of beautiful when you think about it. Like really beautiful. The complexity and the uniqueness that we as individuals embody and have the opportunity to emanate to the entire world. Gina asked me to talk about beauty and what beauty is to me and I honestly cringed. I am far from an expert on anything related to this topic–or at least what I thought this topic was. So after the above written reflection…I kind of understood the topic at hand better. Beauty to me is a light on the inside that can sometimes be seen on the out. It’s peace, fulfillment and the drive inside of us that causes us to grow change and develop into the best me we can be.

You can read more about Christine’s journey through life here.

Thanks again Chris for agreeing to do this..

Gina

In getting older (whatever that means) I have started to seek out and try to uncover my purpose and all that.

So I have read a new earth and some of the Tibetan book of living and dying (it’s very thick and a slow read for me) and yet I still slip back into old habits.  I sometimes yell at my 2 1/2 year old, even though intellectually I know I shouldn’t and more often than not I get caught up in what is going on with me and forget to focus on the needs of my partner.

At first I used to beat myself up about this stuff but more and more I am just trying to be aware of it.  So when I get frustrated (we have been working on potty training) sometimes I hear Eckhart’s voice saying be still like the ocean and other times… not so much.

I believe that the negative route is so easy sometimes and I am working on it a bit everyday.

Which leads me to share a great find with you… I heard about this site tonic.com that shares good news from around the world.

At the top of the page there are flashes of regular people’s hopes and I just thought that was so cool.  I am going to do this myself and every morning I am going to tweet about my hope for the day.  Hopefully this is just one small way I can try to keep myself going in the right direction.

Feel free to share what it is that you’re hopeful for?

Celebrating Life and Love,

Gina Ayanna

Happy Monday,

My beautiful partner in life, Andre gave me a fantastic idea that is blooming into something that makes me so proud.

Andre asked me if I had heard of guest blogging and of course I had not.  Once I did some research on it I realized that it is a fantastic idea and I had been thinking about it for some time trying to figure out how this concept would work best.  Eureka, after writing the Beautifully You post I was just so fired up because I really want to help women see that they are truly beautiful.  So I thought what better way to do that than introduce you to the beautiful women in my life.  Some of these women I have known for years, some are past clients, some I have met in passing but they left me with a desire to learn more.

These women are not supermodels they are real women, everyday women, women with warm hearts and of all shapes and sizes.  Our first real woman is Christine Walker-Jordon a mother, sister, friend, writer and the list goes on.  This woman truly motivates me to do more and achieve more as she is a mom of three, maintains a very funny and heart warming blog and is an advocate for child literacy.   Chris is always looking for ways to give back and she just emits this light.

So very soon, Christine will write a blog post for us and she will be mentioning what beauty is to her.  She will also be the one answering any questions you have on her post.  I can’t wait.

So thank you Christine for agreeing to be a part of this and for the beauty that you exude in all that you do.  You can check out Christine’s blog which is www.growinguptoronto.com

Celebrating love and life,

Gina