March 14, 2024 • 19 mins
Have you ever considered the camera and creativity as a catalyst for self-worth? Vanessa Mata, a Toronto-based educator, activist, and photographer, joins us to share how she is challenging beauty norms and championing the voices of the unseen, both behind the camera and in the classroom.
With each snapshot, she's flipping the script on cultural expectations, capturing the essence, strength and beauty of each person. Her transformative photography combines art with spirituality, redefining the path to healing and mental well-being. Through her personal experiences of growth and the joyfulness of her photo shoots, Vanessa is creating ripples of confidence and self-love that echo far beyond the frame.
In this episode Vanessa shares her insights on navigating the inner critic and the transformational journey towards self-love. She provides a testament to the undeniable strength found in fostering self-advocacy and inner healing.
We have the pleasure of working with Vanessa on our retreats, as a guest facilitator and always an amazing photographer. In fact, she'll be joining our Embodied Worth Speaker Series this Friday at noon ET to continue this conversation on Taming the Inner Critic. We'd love for you to join us
Follow her and be part of the change at LunaLightsVM on Instagram and her website, where every message, idea, and collaboration is a snapshot of possibility.
✨ You are meant to shine. ✨
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey Sarah, hey Sarah, we just had the best
conversation.
We say that about everyconversation we do, but is it a
lie?
I don't think so.
We are so lucky we get to talkto some of the best people.
And Vanessa, yeah, it's her wayof being, like her softness,
yet fierceness, like there'sthis, like power behind her soft
(00:25):
exterior, if that makes sense.
Definitely, when she justcasually threw in there oh yeah,
you'll hear the story when youlisten.
Oh yeah, I inspired my studentsto just go strike.
Yeah, it's casual.
So a little bit for you guys.
Vanessa is joining us fromCanada, as you already heard, is
an educator, she's an activistand she's a photographer.
(00:46):
So she has been working aroundhow creativity, and especially
photography, can both promotehealing and help to create a
balanced state of mental health.
What I love about Vanessa'swork is that she really uses
photography to challenge theconventional standards of beauty
and provide people that areoften underrepresented with an
(01:10):
opportunity to showcase theirlight.
Vanessa, thank you so, so muchfor joining us, not just today
for the podcast, but you'll alsobe joining us this Friday for
our In Body Worth speaker seriessession.
All about taming your innercritic.
Hello, I'm so excited to behere my nine to five is a
(01:31):
secondary school teacher.
All other times I am doingphotography or something
creative.
One of my past roles was towork in social work alongside
with young people.
One of the reasons of the manyreasons we love you which would
be an hour long podcast if welisted everything but is that
(01:54):
you really are a true artist anda storyteller through your
photography.
Each of your photos capturesthe light and strength of the
people that you are taking thatphoto up, and so we're curious
has photography always beenimportant in your life and what
made you focus on photography?
(02:14):
That's a really good question,because growing up, my sister
and I are actually both reallycreative, but it was something
that we didn't really think thatwe could pursue for cultural
reasons.
We just felt like it wasn'tsomething that we could do to
support ourselves.
Photography has always kind ofbeen around.
(02:37):
I remember growing up barring mydad's film camera and growing
up to parades and snappingphotos.
Or if I had a school trip, Iwould buy the disposable film
cameras and take that with me.
I love to document moments andphotos and just capturing things
, and for me, getting back tofilm was like opening up a
(03:00):
kinder surprise.
It was just like all theexcitement you didn't know what
you were going to get.
That was kind of my journeyalong the way with photography.
After I got my first DSLRdigital camera, I was still
taking photos, with my friendsgoing downtown kind of
orchestrating photo shoots, notknowing that they were really
(03:20):
like photo shoots.
But I think I had a momentwhere I was taking photos and
not really knowing how I cameabout to taking those photos or
how I guess the functionality ofa camera was.
And then that's when I made thedecision to take some courses,
start networking.
I am self-taught, so that'salso another thing where, again,
(03:43):
maybe it's part of like neverfeeling like I could pursue it,
but I kind of managed it andstill kind of pursued it in my
own way, interning and justconnecting with different free
workshops in the city and slowlyjust becoming a photographer.
I think that was the movingpoint where it really became
something important, where Iwanted to take it a little bit
(04:04):
more serious.
Looking back now, I've alwayshad a camera in hand or around.
That creative vision was alwaysthere.
I so remember those disposablecameras and the excitement of
truly not knowing what you'regoing to capture Like remember
doing selfies, but they're justdisposable cameras.
Yeah, yeah, and they would belike and they would be like and
(04:26):
they would be like and theywould be like and they would be
like and they would be like andthey would be like and they
would be like.
Yeah yeah, you don't choose tofocus on the conventional beauty
standards.
You really make a focus of kindof challenging what we think is
beautiful and in that way youcapture people's beauty.
I've seen it again and againand again.
(04:49):
And you also really use yourphotography as a way to showcase
people that are oftenunderrepresented.
And can you share a little bitabout how you do that and why
it's so important?
It is at the root of myphotography work and I tell my
students this all the time.
I tell them that when I wasgrowing up, I did not have any
(05:12):
teachers that looked like meuntil I was in teachers college,
which was not that long ago.
I tell them it's a big deal tohave people that you can
identify with.
There's like power in that.
Even in the curriculum that wenow teach, we emphasize
different perspectives anddifferent lenses, whereas back
then I never saw myself in whatI was learning, and for me
(05:36):
everything is interconnected andeverything is transferable.
So now that I'm a photographer,of course I didn't feel like I
could pursue this type of art.
Like art wasn't for me.
And then, on top of that, Ididn't see myself in media or in
the outlets that I was lookinginto.
It is really important to mebecause I try to emphasize
(06:01):
stories that would get missed.
I really, really believe thatanyone anyone could be
photographed.
Anyone could be your so-and-somodel.
I think photographing models iscool, it's fun, but I really
think that anyone could be amodel.
(06:22):
Anyone has a uniqueness thatcould be highlighted.
Especially, growing up, once Iwas in my early 20s I felt a
little lost, like leaving theeducation system, I felt lost
within myself, I feltdisconnected from like culture
and I had a lot of unlearningand learning to do and I still
(06:44):
do.
But I think that gap in my lifereally pushed me to want to
create a platform for peopletoday and through my work and
just really highlightingeveryone has a story, everyone
has a beautiful story.
I'm so grateful that I get toconnect with people in my 9-5
(07:05):
and in my previous job as acounselor, but now I get to do
that in a creative way.
I feel really fortunate, reallylucky, and there is again a lot
of power.
When you can see yourself inmedia or in fashion or in just
any creative field, it makes youfeel like you belong.
(07:26):
There's space for you there andI think for young people that I
teach or for just people ingeneral who see my stuff, I want
them to feel like, yeah, yeah,I could do it too, and I really
do believe anyone can model,step out into their own creative
path.
Sky's a limit there.
(07:47):
I love that because it reallytruly is so empowering.
We come back to at the end ofthe day, like all of us just
wanna be included and seen andheard, right Like that is so
much of worthiness.
So in that empowerment piece youalso bridge creativity and
mental health.
(08:08):
Can you share a little bit moreabout how that link came in
teaching your students, in howyou do photography today, like
just the importance ofcreativity on our overall mental
health?
Yeah, I think creativity cantruly heal people.
I think when we step into thatcreative world we are able to
(08:30):
tap into our intuition.
I think as a person, I thinkwithout photography my
spirituality, my growth wouldhave taken a backseat, because
they go hand in hand so wellwhen I'm doing photography.
I'm present, I'm mastering thatskill of like, being grounded
(08:51):
and listening to my intuitionand it creates again belonging,
creates collaboration, and theseare all things that impact
young people.
I strongly always encourage mykids to advocate for themselves
and we start small.
We start like we have a smallclassroom here.
It might be daunting to put upyour hand in a classroom of 30,
(09:13):
but here we're a class of eight,like put up your hand, make
mistakes, ask questions, becausethat practice of doing it only
gets easier, right, or itdoesn't get as daunting when you
tap into creativity and you'retapping into intuition and
collaboration.
It just gets easier and easieras you move forward and I think
(09:36):
these are all things that youngpeople need to grow and they
just impact their self-esteemand their work and I think that
just transfers into the amazingyoung adults that they can
become.
And for me, as an educator oras a teacher, as a creative
rules are interchangeable.
(09:57):
Young people, when they have theopportunity to share a piece of
themselves, there's like alight that goes off and I'm so
lucky that I get to see that.
But they really start feelinglike someone's in my corner,
someone believes in me, and Ithink that really impacts and
shapes how they navigate withadults, how they navigate with
(10:19):
each other.
Most importantly, they navigatewith themselves, which I think
in the long run can impactmental health.
So if we start building thoseconnections at a younger age, I
just think that they becomebetter advocates once they like,
leave my space or they justmove on in life.
And I just say how much I lovethat throughout that answer you
(10:43):
are centering advocacy and like,that self-knowledge and that
self-worth.
What a powerful connection tomake.
And, my gosh, I'm so excitedfor your students to come to the
world.
I'm excited for them too.
They made me cry the other daywhen I told them I was leaving
and they're like please, miss,don't leave.
And some of them went to theprincipal's office and they said
(11:05):
, hey, we will strike.
And for me I'm just like I mean, don't strike, don't cause a
disruption, but I'm happy thatyou weren't afraid to go and
seek out answers for what youneed.
I'm like that's the whole goal,that's the whole goal.
And they checked it, they didit.
I'm proud of them and I hopethey continue doing it.
(11:25):
Moving forward to Friday, we'vebeen kind of hinting around at
the whole time, like everythingwe've been talking about, goes
back to this topic, but tamingthe inner critic that's I mean,
that's a big phrase.
What exactly does taming theinner critic mean to you?
The critic for me has been myprotector, has been my motivator
(11:46):
, but ultimately I thinktransitioning out of the dark
space that I was in three yearsago has been probably one of my
biggest teachers.
Three years ago I just realizedthat the critic was kind of
driving my life, it wasoverpowering me, it kind of took
over my steering wheel anddiverted me into a space that
(12:11):
just wasn't healthy for myselfand I kind of just lost track of
who I really was and it wasjust overall really impacting my
mental health.
It's funny because time reallydoes help with the cell being
self-reflective, and I think now, looking back at that dark
(12:32):
space or that dark time in mylife, I'm able to see that I
have a really strong bond withmy higher self.
Now I look at my critic as likean opportunity and an
opportunity to heal, anopportunity to become more
self-aware and to really takethe Acknowledgement and the
agreement that this is myopportunity to love myself again
(12:55):
.
I feel like the inner criticcan bring so much shame, and
Having it be a teacher is aninvitation more Light for taking
this out of shame.
But like, oh, what's, what'sthat critic showing me?
What do I need to do?
Or exactly Do I need to heal?
Yes, yes, so that's exactly it.
(13:18):
If I'm, you know, on the subwayor walking across the street
and I get really annoyed, it'san opportunity to be like, okay,
hold on, like what is annoyingme about this?
What do I have control over?
And why is this having a littlebit more control over my
emotions right now?
Three years ago, my criticismstowards myself were heavily
(13:38):
impacting, like my mood,physically, like I Felt, like I
was nauseous all the time fromanxiety in that time, because we
were always told that you needto love yourself, you need to
become self-aware, but itdoesn't always click.
There needs to be either like atime where we need to agree and
(14:00):
take that agreement forourselves, and I think that's
when, like things can startunfolding for us and like that
path of Enlightenment or justhealing could really start.
Okay, so, on that path ofenlightenment and healing, one
of the things we have witnessedis the critic often comes out in
(14:20):
seeing photographs of ourselves.
Yet it can also be that teacherof healing.
So how can photography andcreativity be there to help you
heal your inner critic or tameyour inner critic?
So there's two parts, becauseI'm normally behind the camera,
right, but as a creative like I,am constantly putting myself
(14:46):
out there, and that was not easy, it's still not.
It's like a skill that aftertime it kind of gets a little
bit easier and easier and lessdaunting.
But I'm constantly putting outmy visions out into the universe
, out for people to judge andCriticize and and have just
opinions on it.
I sometimes show my pictures tomy photography boss and I get
(15:07):
feedback and the feedback Ialways the feedback that I want.
The more you do it or I becomea habit.
Years ago I've read fouragreements by Don Miguel Ruiz.
The one that stood up to me wasalways he's trying your best.
So you don't have any regretsas a creative.
If I don't do that, I willliterally fall apart Because
it's so hard.
(15:28):
It's.
It's a competitive field.
There's just always things thatare changing, trends are coming
about.
There's just always somethingnew to learn.
If I go into anything creativeWith the mindset that I'm, I
tried my best and this is what Ican do in the time that I'm in,
then I feel like I don't haveany regret.
(15:50):
In our retreat, during myworkshop, I talked about just
really being in the moment,being joyful and loving yourself
, and I think that magic of whenyou're feeling yourself really
does come out in photos.
And when it does, and whenyou're feeling like that, it
feels like you're a little bitmore Grateful, more forgiving of
yourself because you tried yourbest.
It gives you an opportunity tocreate some acceptance right,
(16:13):
like I know I'm getting older,I'm getting wrinkles.
You know I got puffy under eyesand sometimes photos don't make
me look like flattering, butI'm okay with it.
Like it gives me an opportunityto be okay with it, create more
love for myself.
I love that.
I think it's such a beautifulpractice of looking at photos
(16:33):
that other people tell us arebeautiful of ourselves, because
sometimes it takes me a while tosee that beauty.
That's why I love doing photoshoots with you.
It's like it's easy to see youare so good at getting people
into that space of positivityand self-acceptance.
Yeah, I was just going to sayeven on our retreat, when we had
(16:54):
women really being courageousabout the types of photo shoots
they wanted to do, I was like oh, it even gives me an
opportunity to be like, oh, wow,like I've been so hard on
myself and I see someone livingin their full truth and their
full love.
I want some of that too.
It really helps, because we'reall really like mere reflections
of each other.
If they're doing that, itreally inspires me to want to do
(17:16):
that too.
Listeners, when Vanessa issaying brave photo shoots, she
means nude photo shoots on thepublic beach and at the
waterfall, and they are the moststunning, beautiful photos I
have ever seen.
And we're not naming names, butlet's just say that you would
never guess that these womenwould make this choice and they
(17:37):
were so empowered and sobeautiful.
I just have to add in one of myfavorite things of doing photo
shoots with you, vanessa, is howexcited you get to Because
you'll get a shot that's good.
You're like, oh, my God, sogood, and it gives self-esteem
boost because it's so wonderful.
So when someone suddenly beinglike, yeah, you look great,
(17:58):
you're amazing, and you can seethe pure excitement and joy in
your face, and it's contagiousto then feel joy and like, oh, I
am pretty, oh, I got this, I'mbrave to try new things, and so
I love the synchronicity of howthe bravery, the courage,
transfers behind the lens and infront, like your subjects
(18:22):
encourage you and you give uscourage.
And like the whole thing overthe cry.
The whole thing is amazing.
Oh, that's so sweet.
Aww, how can people stay intouch with you?
Of course they're all going tocome on Friday, that's a
no-brainer, but how else canthey stay connected and learn
more?
I love when people message meon Instagram, reach out for
(18:46):
anything, ideas orcollaborations.
So my Instagram is LunaLightsVMVM is my initials.
I have a website that wasrecently completed and looks so
beautiful, and it'sLunaLightsVMcom.
Hey Sarah, hey Sarah, we just had the best
conversation.
We say that about everyconversation we do, but is it a
lie?
I don't think so.
We are so lucky we get to talkto some of the best people.
And Vanessa, yeah, it's her wayof being, like her softness,
yet fierceness, like there'sthis, like power behind her soft
(00:25):
exterior, if that makes sense.
Definitely, when she justcasually threw in there oh yeah,
you'll hear the story when youlisten.
Oh yeah, I inspired my studentsto just go strike.
Yeah, it's casual.
So a little bit for you guys.
Vanessa is joining us fromCanada, as you already heard, is
an educator, she's an activistand she's a photographer.
(00:46):
So she has been working aroundhow creativity, and especially
photography, can both promotehealing and help to create a
balanced state of mental health.
What I love about Vanessa'swork is that she really uses
photography to challenge theconventional standards of beauty
and provide people that areoften underrepresented with an
(01:10):
opportunity to showcase theirlight.
Vanessa, thank you so, so muchfor joining us, not just today
for the podcast, but you'll alsobe joining us this Friday for
our In Body Worth speaker seriessession.
All about taming your innercritic.
Hello, I'm so excited to behere my nine to five is a
(01:31):
secondary school teacher.
All other times I am doingphotography or something
creative.
One of my past roles was towork in social work alongside
with young people.
One of the reasons of the manyreasons we love you which would
be an hour long podcast if welisted everything but is that
(01:54):
you really are a true artist anda storyteller through your
photography.
Each of your photos capturesthe light and strength of the
people that you are taking thatphoto up, and so we're curious
has photography always beenimportant in your life and what
made you focus on photography?
(02:14):
That's a really good question,because growing up, my sister
and I are actually both reallycreative, but it was something
that we didn't really think thatwe could pursue for cultural
reasons.
We just felt like it wasn'tsomething that we could do to
support ourselves.
Photography has always kind ofbeen around.
(02:37):
I remember growing up barring mydad's film camera and growing
up to parades and snappingphotos.
Or if I had a school trip, Iwould buy the disposable film
cameras and take that with me.
I love to document moments andphotos and just capturing things
, and for me, getting back tofilm was like opening up a
(03:00):
kinder surprise.
It was just like all theexcitement you didn't know what
you were going to get.
That was kind of my journeyalong the way with photography.
After I got my first DSLRdigital camera, I was still
taking photos, with my friendsgoing downtown kind of
orchestrating photo shoots, notknowing that they were really
(03:20):
like photo shoots.
But I think I had a momentwhere I was taking photos and
not really knowing how I cameabout to taking those photos or
how I guess the functionality ofa camera was.
And then that's when I made thedecision to take some courses,
start networking.
I am self-taught, so that'salso another thing where, again,
(03:43):
maybe it's part of like neverfeeling like I could pursue it,
but I kind of managed it andstill kind of pursued it in my
own way, interning and justconnecting with different free
workshops in the city and slowlyjust becoming a photographer.
I think that was the movingpoint where it really became
something important, where Iwanted to take it a little bit
(04:04):
more serious.
Looking back now, I've alwayshad a camera in hand or around.
That creative vision was alwaysthere.
I so remember those disposablecameras and the excitement of
truly not knowing what you'regoing to capture Like remember
doing selfies, but they're justdisposable cameras.
Yeah, yeah, and they would belike and they would be like and
(04:26):
they would be like and theywould be like and they would be
like and they would be like andthey would be like and they
would be like.
Yeah yeah, you don't choose tofocus on the conventional beauty
standards.
You really make a focus of kindof challenging what we think is
beautiful and in that way youcapture people's beauty.
I've seen it again and againand again.
(04:49):
And you also really use yourphotography as a way to showcase
people that are oftenunderrepresented.
And can you share a little bitabout how you do that and why
it's so important?
It is at the root of myphotography work and I tell my
students this all the time.
I tell them that when I wasgrowing up, I did not have any
(05:12):
teachers that looked like meuntil I was in teachers college,
which was not that long ago.
I tell them it's a big deal tohave people that you can
identify with.
There's like power in that.
Even in the curriculum that wenow teach, we emphasize
different perspectives anddifferent lenses, whereas back
then I never saw myself in whatI was learning, and for me
(05:36):
everything is interconnected andeverything is transferable.
So now that I'm a photographer,of course I didn't feel like I
could pursue this type of art.
Like art wasn't for me.
And then, on top of that, Ididn't see myself in media or in
the outlets that I was lookinginto.
It is really important to mebecause I try to emphasize
(06:01):
stories that would get missed.
I really, really believe thatanyone anyone could be
photographed.
Anyone could be your so-and-somodel.
I think photographing models iscool, it's fun, but I really
think that anyone could be amodel.
(06:22):
Anyone has a uniqueness thatcould be highlighted.
Especially, growing up, once Iwas in my early 20s I felt a
little lost, like leaving theeducation system, I felt lost
within myself, I feltdisconnected from like culture
and I had a lot of unlearningand learning to do and I still
(06:44):
do.
But I think that gap in my lifereally pushed me to want to
create a platform for peopletoday and through my work and
just really highlightingeveryone has a story, everyone
has a beautiful story.
I'm so grateful that I get toconnect with people in my 9-5
(07:05):
and in my previous job as acounselor, but now I get to do
that in a creative way.
I feel really fortunate, reallylucky, and there is again a lot
of power.
When you can see yourself inmedia or in fashion or in just
any creative field, it makes youfeel like you belong.
(07:26):
There's space for you there andI think for young people that I
teach or for just people ingeneral who see my stuff, I want
them to feel like, yeah, yeah,I could do it too, and I really
do believe anyone can model,step out into their own creative
path.
Sky's a limit there.
(07:47):
I love that because it reallytruly is so empowering.
We come back to at the end ofthe day, like all of us just
wanna be included and seen andheard, right Like that is so
much of worthiness.
So in that empowerment piece youalso bridge creativity and
mental health.
(08:08):
Can you share a little bit moreabout how that link came in
teaching your students, in howyou do photography today, like
just the importance ofcreativity on our overall mental
health?
Yeah, I think creativity cantruly heal people.
I think when we step into thatcreative world we are able to
(08:30):
tap into our intuition.
I think as a person, I thinkwithout photography my
spirituality, my growth wouldhave taken a backseat, because
they go hand in hand so wellwhen I'm doing photography.
I'm present, I'm mastering thatskill of like, being grounded
(08:51):
and listening to my intuitionand it creates again belonging,
creates collaboration, and theseare all things that impact
young people.
I strongly always encourage mykids to advocate for themselves
and we start small.
We start like we have a smallclassroom here.
It might be daunting to put upyour hand in a classroom of 30,
(09:13):
but here we're a class of eight,like put up your hand, make
mistakes, ask questions, becausethat practice of doing it only
gets easier, right, or itdoesn't get as daunting when you
tap into creativity and you'retapping into intuition and
collaboration.
It just gets easier and easieras you move forward and I think
(09:36):
these are all things that youngpeople need to grow and they
just impact their self-esteemand their work and I think that
just transfers into the amazingyoung adults that they can
become.
And for me, as an educator oras a teacher, as a creative
rules are interchangeable.
(09:57):
Young people, when they have theopportunity to share a piece of
themselves, there's like alight that goes off and I'm so
lucky that I get to see that.
But they really start feelinglike someone's in my corner,
someone believes in me, and Ithink that really impacts and
shapes how they navigate withadults, how they navigate with
(10:19):
each other.
Most importantly, they navigatewith themselves, which I think
in the long run can impactmental health.
So if we start building thoseconnections at a younger age, I
just think that they becomebetter advocates once they like,
leave my space or they justmove on in life.
And I just say how much I lovethat throughout that answer you
(10:43):
are centering advocacy and like,that self-knowledge and that
self-worth.
What a powerful connection tomake.
And, my gosh, I'm so excitedfor your students to come to the
world.
I'm excited for them too.
They made me cry the other daywhen I told them I was leaving
and they're like please, miss,don't leave.
And some of them went to theprincipal's office and they said
(11:05):
, hey, we will strike.
And for me I'm just like I mean, don't strike, don't cause a
disruption, but I'm happy thatyou weren't afraid to go and
seek out answers for what youneed.
I'm like that's the whole goal,that's the whole goal.
And they checked it, they didit.
I'm proud of them and I hopethey continue doing it.
(11:25):
Moving forward to Friday, we'vebeen kind of hinting around at
the whole time, like everythingwe've been talking about, goes
back to this topic, but tamingthe inner critic that's I mean,
that's a big phrase.
What exactly does taming theinner critic mean to you?
The critic for me has been myprotector, has been my motivator
(11:46):
, but ultimately I thinktransitioning out of the dark
space that I was in three yearsago has been probably one of my
biggest teachers.
Three years ago I just realizedthat the critic was kind of
driving my life, it wasoverpowering me, it kind of took
over my steering wheel anddiverted me into a space that
(12:11):
just wasn't healthy for myselfand I kind of just lost track of
who I really was and it wasjust overall really impacting my
mental health.
It's funny because time reallydoes help with the cell being
self-reflective, and I think now, looking back at that dark
(12:32):
space or that dark time in mylife, I'm able to see that I
have a really strong bond withmy higher self.
Now I look at my critic as likean opportunity and an
opportunity to heal, anopportunity to become more
self-aware and to really takethe Acknowledgement and the
agreement that this is myopportunity to love myself again
(12:55):
.
I feel like the inner criticcan bring so much shame, and
Having it be a teacher is aninvitation more Light for taking
this out of shame.
But like, oh, what's, what'sthat critic showing me?
What do I need to do?
Or exactly Do I need to heal?
Yes, yes, so that's exactly it.
(13:18):
If I'm, you know, on the subwayor walking across the street
and I get really annoyed, it'san opportunity to be like, okay,
hold on, like what is annoyingme about this?
What do I have control over?
And why is this having a littlebit more control over my
emotions right now?
Three years ago, my criticismstowards myself were heavily
(13:38):
impacting, like my mood,physically, like I Felt, like I
was nauseous all the time fromanxiety in that time, because we
were always told that you needto love yourself, you need to
become self-aware, but itdoesn't always click.
There needs to be either like atime where we need to agree and
(14:00):
take that agreement forourselves, and I think that's
when, like things can startunfolding for us and like that
path of Enlightenment or justhealing could really start.
Okay, so, on that path ofenlightenment and healing, one
of the things we have witnessedis the critic often comes out in
(14:20):
seeing photographs of ourselves.
Yet it can also be that teacherof healing.
So how can photography andcreativity be there to help you
heal your inner critic or tameyour inner critic?
So there's two parts, becauseI'm normally behind the camera,
right, but as a creative like I,am constantly putting myself
(14:46):
out there, and that was not easy, it's still not.
It's like a skill that aftertime it kind of gets a little
bit easier and easier and lessdaunting.
But I'm constantly putting outmy visions out into the universe
, out for people to judge andCriticize and and have just
opinions on it.
I sometimes show my pictures tomy photography boss and I get
(15:07):
feedback and the feedback Ialways the feedback that I want.
The more you do it or I becomea habit.
Years ago I've read fouragreements by Don Miguel Ruiz.
The one that stood up to me wasalways he's trying your best.
So you don't have any regretsas a creative.
If I don't do that, I willliterally fall apart Because
it's so hard.
(15:28):
It's.
It's a competitive field.
There's just always things thatare changing, trends are coming
about.
There's just always somethingnew to learn.
If I go into anything creativeWith the mindset that I'm, I
tried my best and this is what Ican do in the time that I'm in,
then I feel like I don't haveany regret.
(15:50):
In our retreat, during myworkshop, I talked about just
really being in the moment,being joyful and loving yourself
, and I think that magic of whenyou're feeling yourself really
does come out in photos.
And when it does, and whenyou're feeling like that, it
feels like you're a little bitmore Grateful, more forgiving of
yourself because you tried yourbest.
It gives you an opportunity tocreate some acceptance right,
(16:13):
like I know I'm getting older,I'm getting wrinkles.
You know I got puffy under eyesand sometimes photos don't make
me look like flattering, butI'm okay with it.
Like it gives me an opportunityto be okay with it, create more
love for myself.
I love that.
I think it's such a beautifulpractice of looking at photos
(16:33):
that other people tell us arebeautiful of ourselves, because
sometimes it takes me a while tosee that beauty.
That's why I love doing photoshoots with you.
It's like it's easy to see youare so good at getting people
into that space of positivityand self-acceptance.
Yeah, I was just going to sayeven on our retreat, when we had
(16:54):
women really being courageousabout the types of photo shoots
they wanted to do, I was like oh, it even gives me an
opportunity to be like, oh, wow,like I've been so hard on
myself and I see someone livingin their full truth and their
full love.
I want some of that too.
It really helps, because we'reall really like mere reflections
of each other.
If they're doing that, itreally inspires me to want to do
(17:16):
that too.
Listeners, when Vanessa issaying brave photo shoots, she
means nude photo shoots on thepublic beach and at the
waterfall, and they are the moststunning, beautiful photos I
have ever seen.
And we're not naming names, butlet's just say that you would
never guess that these womenwould make this choice and they
(17:37):
were so empowered and sobeautiful.
I just have to add in one of myfavorite things of doing photo
shoots with you, vanessa, is howexcited you get to Because
you'll get a shot that's good.
You're like, oh, my God, sogood, and it gives self-esteem
boost because it's so wonderful.
So when someone suddenly beinglike, yeah, you look great,
(17:58):
you're amazing, and you can seethe pure excitement and joy in
your face, and it's contagiousto then feel joy and like, oh, I
am pretty, oh, I got this, I'mbrave to try new things, and so
I love the synchronicity of howthe bravery, the courage,
transfers behind the lens and infront, like your subjects
(18:22):
encourage you and you give uscourage.
And like the whole thing overthe cry.
The whole thing is amazing.
Oh, that's so sweet.
Aww, how can people stay intouch with you?
Of course they're all going tocome on Friday, that's a
no-brainer, but how else canthey stay connected and learn
more?
I love when people message meon Instagram, reach out for
(18:46):
anything, ideas orcollaborations.
So my Instagram is LunaLightsVMVM is my initials.
I have a website that wasrecently completed and looks so
beautiful, and it'sLunaLightsVMcom.
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