DYING to see this!

Waste Land from Forrest Heidel on Vimeo.

ISRAEL HAS BEEN AMAZING. BUT...I MISS MY HUSBAND.

israel is tops. like, mega, uber tops. and i love my family. they are so dope.

LONESOME WEST

I MISS MY LIFE IN SOUTH DAKOTA. SOME DAYS MORE THAN OTHERS. & SOME DAYS NOT AT ALL.
I MEAN, I'M HAPPY WE MOVED FOR SURE, BUT THERE IS SO MANY AMAZING AND BEAUTIFULLY POWERFUL THINGS ABOUT BEING ABLE TO TREK FOR HOURS BY YOURSELF, WITH YOUR THOUGHTS, CONNECTING TO YOUR HEART, THE HONEST BEAUTY OF SOLITUDE & NATURE COLLIDING... ITS UNPARALLELED TO ANYTHING ON EARTH.

lawd have mercy. what has this world come to?

i feel sick to my stomach. ironic?
i think not.

BAHJI - the resting place of the Prophet Founder of the Baha'i Faith, Baha'u'llah

also, to the Baha'is, the Holiest Place on earth.



Know that in every home where God is praised and prayed to, and His Kingdom proclaimed,

that home is a garden of God and a paradise of His happiness.

~ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

THE HOLY LAND.

I GOT HERE ABOUT 5 DAYS AGO.
HERE ARE SOME OF THE FIRST SHOTS:

VULNERABILITY is key

my mentor, hero and one of my all time favorite people in the world, patrick hill taught me and some of my dearest friends at evergreen how the key to life was to lead with our vulnerabilities. that we won't be able to progress in life, make changes and engage in true dialogue unless we lead with our vulnerabilities. my dearest friend, elise sent me this TED talk recently which is all about leading with your vulnerability. it struck a chord in me, to my core. i love this, and i am sure you will too:

hilariously ridiculously fashionably fun

it wouldn't be a bff meet up unless we did a photoshoot. like seattle, as seen in previous [though recent] posts with my best girl amanda, i was blessed with having some freakin' amazing times with elise and her fiance, rollie as well as elise's girlfriends. the photoshoot that i have coined "the modern craft" or what elise calls "the bladerunner" shoot, was shot in pasadena over the weekend. i needed an excuse to wear my favorite new dress and i didn't think that mar's wedding would be the appropriate place. but elise and i have a DEEP LOVE & UNDYING AFFECTION for big dresses, with puffy sleeves, sequins, ribbons, ruffles - all things SUPER girly. so we seized this opportunity to make it a good time. and rollie played along and took some sweet shots. it is funny, i am sure that rollie and baktash both know that by now, being married to elise and i, that they will have to be our stand in photographers at each visit. and they'll smile and laugh and tell us we look cute, even if we look hilariously ridiculous [but that's part of the fun too - too look hilariously ridiculous]. and we married or will marry them for the reasons that they are so loving, fun, creative and flexible. sweet, sweet men, we have = lucky us girls. the first shots are taken with my sweet little vivitar [35mm]. i am sure by now, you can tell the difference between the film & digital shots: though i was very tired, i do adore this shot, especially because elise and i are both wearing BRAND new LISH designs soon to be posted on my etsy shop site!! [check it out, yo!!!] doesn't elise look so amazing in that suede pair of LISH??!? : here's another new pair of LISH, called RETURN TO CENTER: i do love the symmetry and balance of this shot a lot: isn't this a fun photoshoot? don't you just love it in a i'm-really-scared-these-girls-could-come-and-put-a-gnarly-hex-on-me awesome way? we got ready at elise's future mother in laws house and this is the conversation [roughly] that elise had with rollie's moms: MOMS: where are you and layli and rollie going, elise? ELISE: for a photoshoot in big, fancy dresses MOMS: ...is there a special occasion? ELISE: nope, its just for fun. MOMS: [insert confused faces] ELISE: yep. just for fun, that's what layli and i do together. MOMS: so just to play dress up? ELISE: yep. - we're both almost 30 and i'm sure we'll be doing this until we're 90. i sure as hell hope so in bigger and better dresses every year.

photographer's work being widely recognized after her death

isn't this crazy? i mean, what do you guys think about your work, your heart's work becoming "famous" after you've passed? would you want recognition in this life, to show and travel and discuss your work and your process? or would you want it to go down in the same way, the way that it did for vivian maier?

first - i am IN LOVE with GOOD. they have THE most amazing stories and probably the most interesting website currently. i found this on their site today along with an article about the 50 states and what they're good at / known for. interesting tidbit of info, along with an amazing visual reference.



see the image larger here.

sad alaska has the highest suicide rate...but vermont has the smartest people...i've lived both places. hmmm....

pretty interesting, eh?

I PUNCHED NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS

new years resolutions are funny to me: they're great in principal, but stupid in practice. i mean, come on, dudes, shouldn't we be setting resolutions and goals for ourselves all the time? shouldn't we be busting our buns ALL YEAR, striving for improvement, progression & growth?

so many people have asked me in the last couple of days what my "new years resolutions" are. i told them while i don't hate on people who have them, i don't believe in them for myself; i try to live throughout the year being mindful of where i can improve and set my resolutions at the appropriate times. [this is NOT to hate on those that do set resolutions, cos if that's what it takes for you to feel motivated to make positive changes in your life, i high five you...] but "new years resolutions" feel kinda like going to church on sunday and doing what ever the heck you want during the week - as long as you go to church on sunday, confess, all is forgiven; you only have to be mindful certain times of the year. no offense to those that go to church on sunday either, that was just an example. it is a mentality that i am speaking about, not anything to do with one's religious beliefs and/or backgrounds. it is a mentality and deficiency of self-awareness and willingness to kick your own butt in to shape to change and improve on the things in your life/person that need tending/tweaking at the time that the need is there.

so with all of those thoughts banging around in my [HUGE] brain, i wanted to share with you a Baha'i quote about striving for distinction as a Baha'i in our DAILY lives:

"I do not desire for you financial distinction. It is not an ordinary distinction I desire; not scientific, commercial, industrial distinction. For you I desire spiritual distinction—that is, you must become eminent and distinguished in morals. In the love of God you must become distinguished from all else. You must become distinguished for loving humanity, for unity and accord, for love and justice. In brief, you must become distinguished in all the virtues of the human world—for faithfulness and sincerity, for justice and fidelity, for firmness and steadfastness, for philanthropic deeds and service to the human world, for love toward every human being, for unity and accord with all people, for removing prejudices and promoting international peace. Finally, you must become distinguished for heavenly illumination and for acquiring the bestowals of God. I desire this distinction for you. This must be the point of distinction among you. "

-‘Abdu’l-Bahá, son of Baha'i prophet founder Baha'u'llah

this quote super pumps me up, and i feel so moved by focusing on these things, striving daily to make myself a better person, serving our common family. and clearly, after reading this quote, i have enough work to keep my hands full with for the duration of my life here. :)

in what ways are you working to improve yourself?

DISCLAIMER: while i just ranted about "new years res." i am also aware that those that do set them, i am sure, also are vigilant and mindful and strive for improvement the rest of the year, not just jan. 1st on. and if you are not one of those people, this rant is for you.

the grass is always greener in LA with my dearest buddy.

[more pics from our deadly photoshoot coming soon...hold your breath, cos it won't take too long...]