We Are All Connected Somehow. Right now, one of my connectors seems to be Joy Prouty, @joyprouty on instagram.
Years ago when my daughter Maisy joined instagram one of her early follows was Joy Prouty, she would tell me about her story, her images, her then only one young daughter and the beautiful family she had. One day Maisy came into our kitchen thrilled that Joy Prouty was having an estate sale and it was right in our Thousand Oaks Backyard! Until then she had assumed Joy was far away in another state with her lovely tales of family life. We went to the sale but didn’t connect with the Proutys’ then.
A few years later I met Joy as she brought her eldest daughter to the studio for a CReATE date with a friend. I told her about my connection to her family.
Years later still, during a birthday party at the studio I talked with a parent who was a photographer @erin_m_fox. She had trained under Joy Prouty. I loved that connection so I tucked it away in my memory to go back to someday.
Someday came recently when I thought about updating my website with fresh photos. Erin immediately came to my mind, so I called her. When she came to the studio to meet with me we connected. We talked about work, family, life and of course, Joy Prouty. When Maisy had told me about Joy all those years ago I was intrigued by what drew my teenage daughter to an adult mama. She was intrigued by Joy’s photography and her heartfelt story posts.
I followed Joy too then and understood what connected Maisy to her. Talking to Erin recently I understood what connected her to Joy too. It was humanness, kindness, realness, rawness and Joy’s relishing in the beautyness too. As Erin and I talked we shared some nesses of our own.
Today Erin came to the studio to shoot it in-action during a Birthday Party. I watched her work, she connected with people, with inspired views she had, I just can’t wait to see it all. At the end of the day I feel lucky to take note of the thread that is woven through all of us while connecting us all. That’s what it’s really about, being in the connection. Thank you Joy for being a piece of my thread and for weaving into my life’s story that connected me to Erin. I am sure the connection won’t stop here. After all, we are all connected somehow.
