Today is Independence Day in the U.S. and it’s no newsflash that we Americans feel, at times, like we don’t recognize our country… or each other, or what we grew up with. Some days, it feels like we’re truly coming apart at the seams. If you watch the news – any American news, really – this is the topic: We’re divided. Social media hasn’t helped us find our better angels, either. And the result is that we’re world-weary, anxious, suspect of others, and sad. Did I say, “weary?” Well, I’ll repeat it.

But as I sit here thinking about all of this angst and noise, and then think about what today means, I don’t have to grasp for gratitude. I still feel it because I’m surrounded by things that make me feel it.

I was “brought up,” as we say in the South, with love. Then I found a partner in life who loves me and I him. We understand that crazy balance of partnership love and personal independence and we try to keep the two in harmony. We also have our core values: Be kind, be open-hearted, be respectful, give grace when you want to judge, show integrity, do your best and assume the best in others – live the golden rule, etc. Ryan and I try to live out these values daily.
I’m grateful for that.
We started our life and our business and there have been ups and downs, and there will be more, but we’ve made a point to reach out, because two people are just two people. It’s not enough.

You need more. You need community. You need others of all stripes. We found that community and we keep finding it. We found all of you!
We discovered tribesmen and women in our home community of Wilkesboro, and in Charlotte, Asheville, Charleston and many points beyond. These cohorts are made up of locals and transplants, fellow travelers, passers-through, memorable acquaintances, artists, business professionals, beer lovers, kid lovers, photogs, music junkies, rabid gardeners, home renovators and creatives. Our freedom grew by letting others in. It all – YOU ALL – make our life better. We’re grateful for that.
Then God sent us this Nut. I say it with Christian love, but he’s a nut.

Finley James joined us just over 8 months ago and our home life and community – and what that even meant up til then – expanded yet again. Our son is a gift, but he’s also our teacher and in-house comedian who cracks us up, makes us scratch our heads, and finally flop into bed exhausted. But I tell, with gratitude, that we’ve never felt more happiness in our growing sense of life, community and love. This little disruptor is a gratitude machine.

We know, sweet community, that you’re celebrating the 4th of July and that’s as it should be. Showing gratitude makes your life expand in ways you might never expect. We are celebrating too. My hope, and Ryan’s as well, is that during this major U.S. holiday that you’ll find a minute in the chaos to really identify the things that you’re grateful for and sit with them – mentally or physically if you can.

We as parents and friends and community members are all still intact, despite the stuff that worries us in the daily news. We still have work to do to be better and more inclusive, more civil and more tethered to each other in the right ways….. but community, expansive hearts, curiosity, care and feeding, forgiveness, affection, tolerance and resilience are as much a part of the American core value system as liberty — in fact, those things undergird liberty.

Happy Independence Day.
Go Celebrate! We love you,

Misty & Ryan

We love family portraits whether they are set in the studio, the great outdoors, a specific location like the mountains or high country, or on our property in our outdoor portrait garden. Pixels on Paper photographs, engagements and weddings, brides, and special events and portraits  of all kinds in our Wilkesboro, NC studio. We would be honored to meet with you, learn about you and your family and be a part of taking special portraits that will become, we hope, family heirlooms.

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