Regardless of whether or not you have children or want children, each and every one of us has something to offer another person that will help them (and ourselves) grow in some way. It could be your child, your neighbor, your partner, your boss, or your grandparents. It could be a total stranger. It's the thing that you leave behind in every conversation and interaction with another person. It might be spoken or it might be a feeling or a specific energy. What is that thing? What do you WANT that thing to be? I think when most of us think about legacy we imagine legacy to be something we leave behind after we die. I try to remind myself to apply big picture lessons to small scale events. Maybe the next time you hold your child's hands in yours, you take notice of every single line and wrinkle. Maybe you let them know that their hands and imagination are all they need to create something beautiful, if they have nothing else. Maybe that leaves them with a little more confidence than they had before. Maybe the next time a stranger wants to tell you their life story and you feel totally disinterested, you make eye contact and listen. Maybe you leave them feeling slightly more cared for and respected as a fellow human than they did before. Maybe you give yourself the opportunity to learn from someone you would not have otherwise interacted with. Tiny legacies, passed from person to person, every single day. When someone leaves you feeling loved or feeling like you can conquer an obstacle, does it not make you want to do that for the next person you encounter?

Delivering family session images is sort of my idea of a tiny legacy. Or even the WAY I photograph a family session could be considered one of my tiny legacies. To let each family know that they are entirely unique from the next and that is not only okay, but perfect. To leave them with images of tiny details they may not notice, or the full force belly laughs that no one has ever photographed before. It is all perfect, fleeting, and meant to be cherished.

What are some things you want to leave behind, not just later in life, but today?