Welcome to the IME Movement
Where we declare together, I AM ENOUGH
Come, Darling. The world has too many opinions on who you should be. Come rest in the knowledge that YOU ARE ENOUGH.
Safe Spaces.
Creating your space - for yourself.
It's ok for you to be exactly who you are. But if you're anything like me, you've convinced yourself that's not safe. Or good.
Of maybe you've listened to the voices that said you're too... loud, smart, strong, emotional, soft, quiet, you name it.
The not good enough syndrome.
I don't have kids, but my sisters do. They each have a daughter and I often think about what it will be like for them - growing up where being a woman is such a violent experience.
Yes, Violent. Kristen Stewart said it best in an interview -
She says that women are constantly violated, even if they haven't experienced specific instances of violation. Women are objectified, sexualized, and verbally (or non-verbally) scrutinized.
We are walking secrets. We are told to be seen but not heard, and we can't talk about how we feel because it makes people uncomfortable.
When my older sister had her first baby - a girl - I remember how much her world changed. She had this fierce, mamma bear realization that she needed to love herself because she wanted so desperately for her daughter to grow up loving herself.
This got me thinking A LOT about why I have such a hard time loving myself. Because I also wanted my niece growing up loving who she was and knowing she was loved. I mean, how do we forget that so easily?
If we want the children to be loved, we must start with ourselves. We are the brave who pave the way, showing the daughters of today and tomorrow that it can be done.
So What IS The I AM ENOUGH Movement?
The I Am Enough Movement is a 10 month cohort experience. What brings us together is a shared realization that we need to do a better job of loving ourselves - for our own good, for those we love, and for those that will come after us.
Throughout these ten months there are several elements of shared and individual experiences.
The primary element of our time is a series of 3 individual photoshoots spread out over the 10 months. These photo shoots are meant to capture different elements of ourselves in an attempt to explore who we are and to give space to love those parts of ourselves. Taken by photographer and founder of the I Am Enough movement, Britta Christensen-Finck, these shoots are done with much preparation and care, as well as a created safe space.
In addition, each month we will spend time writing a letter to ourselves. We will write letters of exploration, curiosity, letters to our younger selves, letters of forgiveness, letters of encouragement. There will be a total of 10 letters - one for each month.
These 10 months will be a time of connecting with others to create a shared community. With monthly activities, this community is built with the intention of continuing on after the 10 months have passed. Each month there will be a different gathering where we will discuss, learn, listen and create together.
Near the end of our time together, each woman will have the opportunity to create a reflection video. This video will address some of the things written in our letters, as well as our takeaways from the photoshoots.
Finally, our time together as a cohort will end with a Gala. This is a time to invite the other women in your life who have supported you, to join you and your cohort in celebration. Each women in the cohort will display the images that were taken that they are most proud of, along with any corresponding letters they feel safe sharing.
At the Gala, you will be given a glass photo box with your 12 favorite images inside (each in a mat frame). You will take away a thumbdrive engraved with the words "I am enough" that contains 30 images from each shoot, and the video created at the end. In the box you will also be able to put all of your handwritten letters. This box is for you to remember you're not alone. And when you look at it in the future, my hope is that you will be reminded of how magnanimous, complicated and loved you are.
That you will know that YOU ARE ENOUGH.
Place Video Here
Sacred Wound
In every being there lives a wound.
This is the nature of being born
here, like this.
And in every life there is a choice —
to wrap ourselves around that wound,
protective of its shape, its cadence, its nuance
to build our life around that story —
or to extend through the fire of pain
to some other horizon.
The seed knows this: how to arise
from the dark tight curl of itself —
to bloom from the dark. As does the butterfly,
as it emerges from the chaos
of its own dissolution into winged delight.
It is the impossible miracle
of the luminous heart that brings us
to the hearth of our own awakening
that risks stepping forward to broach
illusory walls, that opens against all odds
seeing that we have nothing to lose
but our own false protection,
our own holding back.
In every being there is a wound~
a fissure where sacred longing is born
so our gifts can be revealed,
so our gifts can be given.
-Laura Weaver
The Schedule
February:
- A Gathering of Creative Empowerment
March:
- The Celebrating You Photoshoot
- A Gathering of Dreamers
April: A Gathering of Reflection and Sharing
May: A Gathering of Creative Storytelling
June:Tell Your Story Photoshoot
July: A Gathering of Reflection and Sharing
August: A Gathering of Creative Healing
September:In Your Skin Photoshoot
October: The Power Of Your Voice Video Shoot
November: Celebration Gala
Ongoing Community:
The 10 Letters
- February: A Gathering of Creative Empowerment
- March: The Celebrating You Photoshoot and A Gathering of Dreamers
- April: A Gathering of Reflection and Sharing
- May: A Gathering of Creative Storytelling
- June:Tell Your Story Photoshoot
- July: A Gathering of Reflection and Sharing
- August: A Gathering of Creative Healing
- September:In Your Skin Photoshoot
- October: The Power Of Your Voice Video Shoot
- November: Celebration Gala
- Dreams
- Who I want to be
- When I am most myself
About the Photoshoots:
Shoot 1: Celebrating You
"Within every woman,
there is a wild and natural creature,
a powerful force,
filled with good instincts,
passionate creativity,
and ageless knowing"
- Clarissa Pinkola Estés
"She is not a beast to be tamed,
but a force to be known.
Like the wild wolf,
a woman in her elegance embodies
a fierce and untamed spirit,
moving with a strength
that is both gentle and powerful."
-unknown
Scheduled in March, this shoot focuses on elegance, confidence, strength. For some, this shoot is done with "the dress that never gets worn" in mind. The Ball gown moment. For others, it's the chance to wear bold miss-matching colors and dance. And for others it's creative expression and being in your element.
This shoot is meant to be you at your most confident. It's the photoshoot that is the answer to this question:
If you were brave enough to show up in the world as bold, crazy, funky, creative, confident, classy, dressy, fancy as you wanted to be - how would you dress? How would you act?Now is your chance. :)
Shoot 2: Loving Your Lines
"What would happen if one woman told the truth about
her life?
The world would split open"
-Muriel Rukeyser
Lines are what tell the stories of our lives on our faces. They are the truth we try so desperately to hide.
This shoot is where we honor ourselves. There is no makeup, no styling. This shoot is done wearing simple leggings and a tank top. It is where we listen to ourselves, our intuition, and we show up as we are.
It is the chance to see who we are when we are angry. When we dance. When we are sad. When our feelings are so big that they've never been allowed, or when they are so small that you only notice them in a brow furrow.
There is no pressure in this shoot. It is meant to create space - where you are the canvas and show up as you are.
For me, I don't even know how my body experiences anger. I have always wanted to be big angry - stomping around the house and scaring myself. But I'm afraid of my own judgement. Well, those desires and feelings are welcome in this space.
Come as you are. Show up how you need to be.
No smiles required.
Shoot 3: In Your Skin
Unmasked
Healing Through Embracing the Flaws and Admiring the Beauty
This is the most personal and vulnerable of the three shoots; we spend much of our 10 months working up to this moment. Why is it personal and vulnerable? Because you are showing up in your skin, and by doing so, you are saying you are enough.
Now, when I say skin, I mean, some people do this shoot in a t-shirt and jeans. Some people show up as they are in their underwear. And others do this shoot in skin colored underwear and some silk fabric or a chunky blanket.
This is a safe space. You are always in control. You can be as covered up as you want to be, or you can see how it goes. It's important to remember that this is YOUR shoot. The intention of these photoshoots is to foster healing.
But I will tell you this - I cannot tell you the stories that I've heard...
"I haven't felt this beautiful since I gave birth"
"WOW. THAT'S what I look like?! I need to be kinder to myself..."
tears. Many tears.
Kindness.
You and I work together to define what self-love in a photoshoot looks like for you, and we go from there.
And years later, I promise you that these photos will be a treasure. That you will see them with kinder eyes. And you will look at your photos fondly, with pride, and whisper to yourself,
"I was enough"
Video Shoot: The Power of Your Voice
Darling, you are magnificent
An example of what your video experience will be like
Here we are, at the end of our 10 months. Your video is a treasure. An interview for yourself and your loved ones.
This one hour, minimally edited video will contain your most treasured stories, advice to your younger self, and your takeaways on own journey of self love.
Take This To Remember Your Greatness
Ways to Remember
In this box...
With every shoot, you will choose your 4 favorite images - these will be printed and inserted into white mats (as seen in the photo). At the end of our time, you will have a collection of 12 matted prints that will come in a glass box. The idea is that they can be taken out and hung/displayed, or displayed in the box on a coffee table, or kept in a private place, protected and ready to be looked at on a day when the world seems against you.
Inside this box will also be the ten letters you wrote to yourself, as well as the thumb drive that will have your 30 chosen images from each shoot.
These gifts are for you, darling, to take and remember just how incredible you are.
What it Costs
Investment
Yup yup yup, this costs money.
How much?
I don't know yet.