Tag Archive for exciting

proud parent right here

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I had one of those rare moments today where I felt like I might actually be doing something right with my parenting. You know, most days are just a mish mash of trying to organise children, trying to get them from A to B without losing your shit, trying to locate lost shoes for the 700th time in an hour, trying to keep your cool, trying to get them to eat something – anything – vaguely nutritious in a 24 hour period. It’s chaotic, really. And some nights my head hits the pillow and I end up rehashing all the things I did wrong that day. I yelled too much. I accidentally swore at someone while driving. I shut myself in the bathroom for 5 minutes because they would not stop fighting. I feel like I didn’t give them enough love. There’s always something to criticize.

 

Today though, today was like… a little golden beam breaking through the worry of my potential failure at parenting. My eldest has quite a few new children in her class this year. Her best friends are still with her but a lot of the classes got mixed up together, which is fine. During her first week there were a few little incidents with a child she hasn’t had much to do with before. Let’s call this kid Sarah, just for ease of storytelling. Basically Sarah had a couple of little violent outbursts and hurt my daughter and her friends. It wasn’t anything unmanageable. It was handled really well by the teacher. But when Lacie came home and told me that someone had hurt her I felt myself go into panic mode. I was bullied as a kid, and it is my biggest fear that my children will go through that. Or, potentially worse, do that to someone else. It was really emotionally scarring what I went through and it has taken me a long time to work through some leftover issues from that. So when she told me what had happened I could feel my chest tightening and my hands go clammy and my mind started to swim with memories of things that happened to me.

 

Then she said to me “Sarah is just a really mean person”. My head instantly cleared and I stopped her there. My husband and I had a huge chat with her about how a naughty act doesn’t make a person bad, it’s just an act. It takes a lot more than that for someone to be a mean person. We talked about how it’s easy to judge someone based on one act but if that was the case then people would never get another chance. She has the occasional violent outburst herself, and we reminded her of that as well. It was a good talk and I could see she was processing everything we had gone over with her.

 

Today in the car after school, I asked her how her day was. I got the usual: “good”. A few moments later though, she announced that she and Sarah are now friends. I asked what had happened to turn things around and she said she had talked to her and reminded her that they played together sometimes last year and it would be nice if they could play together again instead of fighting. And it worked.

 

I swear my heart nearly exploded out of my chest. Here I had been worrying about how I should best be handling this, what we are supposed to do in this situation, what is the right thing to tell her… and my little 5 year old just walked right on up to this kid who was trying to hurt her friends and sorted it out. Just like that. Kids are freaking amazing!! And, not to take the credit away from her (because seriously – high fives all round in our house) but somewhere along the line we must have done something a little bit right with our parenting for her to be able to do that.

 

Crisis averted – phew!

 

Rach x

2016 – the year of authenticity

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You know, when you start a business, information comes from so many places. Social media and the Internet in general have created this massive explosion of knowledge and opinions. There are hundreds, probably thousands, of online articles about starting a business. I stumbled upon one last night while looking for a sewing pattern. It was about starting a craft business, something like “8 easy steps to starting a business selling things you make”. I took a squiz just to pass the time and it made me laugh with how ridiculous it was. The steps were things like get a better sewing machine. Make things that people want to buy. Change what you are making to something that is currently fashionable. There wasn’t a single point that mentioned loving what you do, or working with what you already have, or running a business with your whole hearted passion. How sad is that?

 

It got me thinking about my own business and how I do things. I have always been a photographer, in as much as I have always loved taking photos. I decided to start doing it as a job because I enjoy it. I love it. There is something magical about capturing someone’s essence in a photo. About documenting their spark to be remembered for all the years to come, even after they have left this world. I could spend hours looking at old photographs in second hand stores. Those glimpses into someone else’s life just make my soul feel alive.

 

When I started my business I did what most people probably do and gathered as much information as I could. Now my dad has been self employed for as long as I can remember. He has always used his own name for his business, and has always just gotten on with things. He didn’t have social media or the Internet. He used to advertise when work was quiet, and not worry about it when he was busy. He had a really good reputation and most of his business was word of mouth. It was built on years and years of hard work and a wonderful work ethic, as well as making sure that his customers were always happy with the job he did. It wasn’t built on Facebook likes or Instagram followers.

 

All the reading I did about building a business focused mostly on creating an online presence, gaining followers, Google ratings and so on. A completely different ball game. There is so much focus on making your website and social media pages include content that will reach more viewers. Facebook algorithms change at the drop of a hat. All these business coaches and social media masters tell you that your posts need to include a, b & c to get seen. Pictures get more views. Videos even more. There is never any emphasis on actually being you. On being authentic. On doing everything with love or passion or genuine intentions.

 

So many times I have found myself staring at that blinking cursor. I’ve had something to say, share, something that made my heart happy. But then all that information on SEO and the ever changing landscape of social media would crowd my head and I’d end up struggling to write anything in case I did it “wrong”. In case it didn’t reach enough people or help my online presence. Sometimes I didn’t write anything at all. Sometimes I would manage to piece something together but often it wouldn’t feel like me writing it. I love writing. I used to love nothing more than being able to spill out whatever was on my mind onto a page. It helps me sort through things. To be sitting there unable to write is such a strange and unsettling feeling.

 

The start of 2016 had me thinking about change, as the start of a new year usually does. I decided that I don’t want my business to feel like hard work. I love photo shoots, I love editing, I love giving a box of gorgeous prints on the most amazing paper to people and knowing how much they love them.  But the constant drag of trying to sell myself online was starting to get to me. I decided that I want this year to be the start of a new shift in my business. I want to be more authentic. I want to share what I’m feeling, things I love, the reality of me. Because this business is me. It bears my name, it is the realization of years of loving something and wanting to share it with the world. It’s not a sterile, impersonal corporation. This is my love, my joy. So why shouldn’t it reflect that? My dad never worried about if he was getting Facebook hits. He just went out and got on with it, and did what he did with passion and commitment. And that’s what I’m going to do. I’m totally aware that it may not do anything for my social media presence. I don’t particularly mind. It’s more important to me that someone associates Rachel Baker Photography with me as a person and my work, instead of worrying about how popular my website might be.

 

So welcome to a new year and a new, more real version of me. I will probably be writing more blog posts, and sharing more of my own photos. Less of the “life in the highlight reel”, more of the reality. I do hope you’ll stick around to see the changes, but I understand if it’s not really what you are looking for from me.

 

Much love to you all,

 

Rach xxx

Welcome to my new site!

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As you may have noticed, my business has a brand new look. I have been working with the amazing Megan at Creative Hum to overhaul my look and bring it in line with my new direction.

 

Please have a look around, I will be adding more content over the coming weeks with examples of my work. If you have any questions about packages and what I offer just send me an email to rachel@rachelbaker.com.au and I’ll forward the information to you!

 

Rachel x