SACRED SESSION // EMILY :: IN SELF-LOVE

We are alive. 

Breathing in all that nourishes us, and brings us tall and into bloom, with vibrant flower and broad leaf. 

We are alive.

Breathing out all of our offerings, releasing seeds, beauty, and even debris to decay and nourish the next. 

We are alive in this process. This is the way of the living.


We allow.

Opening our pores and hearts and eyes and ears to receive life. 

We allow. 

Releasing our gifts and grief, loving kindness and grief, joy and grief. 

Grief is our goodbye to what was; the reality and the dream. 


We love. 

We accept and embrace being alive. 

We love. 

We sense and presence with all experiences. 

Love is being fully alive and changing in each moment.

With grace.

Emily, thank you for honoring life with your luminosity, receptivity, presence and grace. 


FESTIVAL PHOTOGRAPHER // Portrait of Pickathon 2018

Pickathon 2018.


My sixth year at this magical festival. It’s difficult to describe  what I experienced. Only one word comes to mind — transcendence. 

I found myself among a large crowd of humans, camera in my hand. Though the act of making portraits is quite simple, its effect can be powerful. I experienced deep connection to so many individuals, sometimes for hours, sometimes just for a brief moment, and was deeply embedded in an open hearted community that has been woven over decades and is rapidly expanding. 

What I experience and witness at Pickathon is inclusion, diverse creativity, sustainability, self-care, multigenerational sharing, and a place where what you have to offer is valued and celebrated. These are the qualities of a culture designed to foster thriving, healing, expansion, connection. In this culture, the individuals within it ascend to a place of joy, fulfillment, ecstasy, belonging, purpose. You can see it in the the reflections of people’s faces as you go about the festival. You can see it reflected in the words on social media of those who attended.

Among this crowd of thousands, I was overcome by the compassion pouring out of my heart for all of humanity. I felt myself transformed into a butterfly-like creature, flitting about, eagerly hoping to make photos that would reflect back to each human the unique beauty I see, in the hopes that every individual would view themselves in the same light of love.

It’s all I want to do — help people see themselves with more love and compassion.


Thank you Pickathon for the container in which we can create a bit of heaven on earth. 

To see these images paired with captions on some of the photos, you can visit www.humansofpdx.com


YOGA & LIFESTYLE PHOTOGRAPHY // ASHLEY HOOK

Making time and space to show up FULLY, to allow ourselves to be multifaceted, intuitive, and creative in the truest sense - that we are CREATING OURSELVES to be someone and something that has never existed before. We are EMBODIED in our own truths, and we are continuously seeking and listening and receiving the answers to the questions of what it is that our PURPOSE, our SERVICE, our MEDICINE and our MAGIC looks like and feels like. 

We are ALIVE. 

Thank you for seeking, listening and engaging in the bigger conversations with me, Ashley, all while smiling and laughing. xo


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