Thursday, December 17, 2009

To Be Seen as Beautiful


To be seen as beautiful--what a wonderful thing! A week ago I photographed a family whom I have been photographing since the first pregnancy. That would be 11 years of annual photographs. The kids come to my studio once a year and for an afternoon they get to just be themselves in front of camera. It is amazing to see their personalities blossom. Their mom told me that the oldest daughter told her that it makes her feel beautiful to be photographed. And she is. And we all are. And sometimes it helps if we take a moment to say that to someone. To behold someone as beautiful--go ahead, make someone's day!

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

May 2009

An update! I have just spent a good amount of time sending This is Who I Am to about 50 corporations, foundations, talk shows, hospitals and clinics. My hope is that it may be used by human relations departments for employees and also for clients. I am also working on orchestrating workshops for women and for mothers and daughters around the topic of body image, compassion and appreciation for ourselves and each others. I am also talking to eating disorders treatment centers about using the book as a therapeutic resource. If anyone has any thoughts or ideas for me, I would love to hear from you!

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Emily Report


Emily appears to be doing well. I'm told that she walked 18 laps around the hospital (that's a mile). I joked with her that she will be the first lung transplant patient to run a marathon when she leaves the hospital! Yesterday I took this photo of her as "princess" ruling the day. Beautiful as ever.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Emily's New Lungs

Emily, the first young woman in my book, has had cystic fibrosis for her whole life. In the past few years she has become increasingly incapacitated by the disease. Finally, after several trips to Seattle for tests, she was put on the lung transplant list. On Monday, 2/16 she and her parents received the call to come to Seattle. They had to arrive within four hours. They left Eugene before 9:00 a.m. and by 12:30 she was in surgery. She is now in intensive care at the UW Medical Center and is apparently doing well. We wish her love and an excellent recovery. It will be long and difficult but Emily is tough and determined. Go Emily!!

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

November 21, 2008 Miami, FL

On Friday morning we stopped by the Oliver-Pyatt center for eating disorders in south Miami. I sat and talked to eight young women from around the country who are struggling with anorexia. They each received a copy of This is Who I Am as a gift from Wendy Oliver-Pyatt, the founder of the center. I was so moved to be in their presence. I read from This is Who I Am and then read some poetry. Poetry has always had a very healing quality for me.

One of the poems is called Body Beautiful which I wrote while working on my book and which I often read when I speak about the book. The other is a poem I love by Galway Kinnell called St. Francis and the Sow. This is one of my favorite poems. It talks about St Francis blessing a sow, a lowly animal that one might consider “ugly”. And with the blessing, the sow is able to find her own blessing from within—“self blessing”. It is such a beautiful poem and relates so much to people struggling with eating disorders who are in search of that “self-blessing”. I can hardly read it without tears.

Many people have asked me for the Body Beautiful poem, so here it is:

Body Beautiful

Body my steady companion
without whom I would be
only a thought or a breeze or
rain passing over the sea,
my ready vessel for
children who never came,
you trundled my dark soul
patiently, Herculean task,
over the mountains of my
sadness and endured
decades of demands for
better or thinner.
Even so, you dip
to country music,
soar with love’s caress,
and sing aloud while walking
down the street.
I stop for this moment
to give you praise.

©Rosanne Olson 2004

November 20, 2008 Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL

I gave an hour-long presentation to students at FAU at the invitation of their wellness program called Today and Wellness Beyond. The director of the health program told us of the increase in mental health issues recently, likely related to the economy. It seems to me that during these difficult economic times it is time to focus on compassion for each other.