When dreams come true, I tell you what. It’s overwhelming and wonderful and exhausting and thrilling.
As much as I want to be, I’m not a dreamer. I’m not someone with my head in the clouds, wondering what life might be like one day. I’d like to say that’s because I’m just a really steady person, or that I just really have my life together. But it’s not. It’s because I’m afraid. There’s a fear I’ve felt as an adult that I never recognized as a child. I’m afraid of that moment when you realize that your dream isn’t your dream anymore. And what do you do then? That’s a worse kind of disappointment than failure, because what can you trust if you can’t trust your own desires to guide you toward the life you want to be living? I’ve had too many dreams fizzle out and gather dust because I changed.
But you see that lady up above? She ignited a new dream in me, a dream clouded with a lot a lot a lot of fear. But it turns out, it was a dream worth dreaming—not because of us, but because it was rooted in something bigger than us. Sisterhood and empathy and solidarity.
In so many ways HEY, SISTA felt the biggest gamble we’ve taken in our careers. Will people even come? Will these girls get along? Do we have anything to say? But once the questions settled, this dream took on a life of its own. And then we were able to see that—just like we had dared to hope—this was about so much more than photography. Women need each other, and we needed a space to need each other.
Today we’re brainstorming our second workshop and the dream is growing, but there’s a special place in our hearts for these first little austin sistas. Cheers to you babes, for trusting us and being brave enough to open up to each other. We love you forever and ever.
florals: Hart Floral
hair + make up: Meagan Bechtel
music: The Motherlode by The Staves
beautiful words! i hope I can come to a Hey Sista someday. yay for dreams and the dreamers who see them.