Kickstarter

First of all, WOW!  This has truly been an amazing first week of fundraising.  THANK YOU to all of you have so generously contributed to this project and shared it with your family and friends.  It’s been a joy to receive such great support from my closest friends and family, people who I have not seen in years, people who live very far away, and even people who I have never had the pleasure to meet.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart.  I have no doubt that we will meet the goal (it's just the first week and we're half way there!!) and I’m getting excited about the possibility of surpassing it! 

Second, I wanted to let you know that because of your generous support and enthusiastic encouragement I’ve been inspired to go deeper with this project.  It is first and foremost a photography project, but it is also about real, personal, and powerful stories and the idea that sharing them might inspire somebody else.  When I was working on this project I asked hundreds of women what inspires them and shared their answers on my blog.  But now I want to ask more and share it in the book.  I want this book to be truly INSPIRING and for that I need to investigate more deeply and ask how our inspiration helps us overcome our common fears so that we can find happiness and fulfillment.  I’d like to give you a sneak peak into what I’m talking about.

On Day 1 of this project I shared a photograph of my dear friend, Sandra.  I wrote a short essay about how she inspires me by being an exceptionally loving mom to her son, Timothy, while raising him on her own and attending school full time.  But by going deeper I've discovered more.  Here's what Sandra recently told me:

“I never expected to be a mom.  When I was growing up I found myself literally left behind by a mother who seemed to have very little attachment to me.  I feared having children and I what kind of parent I might become.  I didn’t plan to get pregnant and when I did, I found myself wanting the baby despite those fears and the fact that I would have to raise him alone.  But the fears only grew stronger throughout my pregnancy.  As I shared my fears of becoming a numb and detached parent with my friends they became concerned, but they stood by me and supported me in every way possible.  

The moment Timothy was born and I held him for the first time, all the fear melted away and I no longer questioned how I would be able to love him.  I just did it in every action I took: by the softness of my touch, the tenderness in my voice, my patience, and the newly found strength to be his advocate in every way possible.  My commitment to do anything for him is limitless because of the love he inspired within me.  And my love is continually supported by my family and friends, including my mom -- she told me her life has been changed since she has seen me care for my so son so differently than she cared for me.  She has seen that it is possible to break the numbing cycle of detachment that I feared for so long.  That is why Timothy is my inspiration -- he has made something that seemed impossible, possible.”

Sandra Elverud

These are the kinds of stories I want to share in this book.  I know each woman I photographed has an equally moving story to share.  Your contribution will make it possible for me to discover them and include them in the book.

Thank you again and have a great day!

Love,

Andrea