I met K. years ago through mutual friends, and honestly never thought we would become so close.
I love our friendship story because it plays like a movie almost... yet there is no ending. We dated the same guy. I hated her for being with the man who broke my heart and then she was there for me when my heart was broken for the first time with my long term love.
We carried each other through our biggest heart breaks of our lives while barely knowing each other.
In 2019, we were both going through bitter break ups (hers a divorce). I was on a high because I had found my passion in Silverpoint, but K. was struggling with her image. The EX had purposely put into her head that she wasn't enough and not letting that bother her was not an option in the low moments.
I asked then to take her photos, because I KNEW there power. I knew it would help her see, he's words meant nothing. They didn't magically make her undesirable or less of a wonderful human. But as with most journeys to being in front of my camera, it takes time and a courage that can only come from within.
By the summer of 2020, we had become a unit. We were surviving the pandemic together... and separately as newly single ladies. We spent that summer on a secluded beach in South Carolina just enjoying time together, and alone. And that when she found that courage.
We had very little in make up with us, and no hair styling skills between us. While she kept saying that the photos probably wouldn't come out good because she didn't know how to do her make up and the heat out on the sand was exhausting, I knew it wouldn't matter in the end... It really never does.
We spent 30mins playing in the sand and giving zero fucks for those who were nearby. And magic happened. She remembered she was a "smokeshow" and a woman who wasn't tied to someone else's option of her.
While we all have our insecure moments and days that we just cannot get comfortable in our bodies, living in that state causes a toll on the body and mind. But the moment you embrace everything that you are, you truly glow from with in.
She wasn't fearless, but she did conquer the fear she felt. And that's the real magic.