THE ART OF BEING...

The one thing that has always been inside of me, The one thing that I notice and admire in other people, The one thing that I think & dream about, The one thing that I believe allows us to truly come alive in our being, The one thing that has always been a part of my lifes work - even when I didn't realise it, That one thing - Self-Expression. Right from when I was a young girl, I've been creating something. Creating in my mind, Creating with my hands. For as far back as I can remember, I've found ways to express myself, mostly quietly, behind the scenes for no one to see or hear, purely because there was a good part of me that thought it to be nothing important, just me and my own thoughts and ideas that didn't matter to the world, yet mattered so much to me and who I was and how I felt, and that were different to how I thought others thought. So I went on living life as I felt I should do...yet the older I got the more it wanted to come out, the more it started to bubble up inside me, for not allowing it to come through, come out. Expressing ones self comes in so many different forms...it's an art. The art of being. We are all a piece of art, that is why we are all so different. Different in personalities, looks, ideas, beliefs...this is what makes you, YOU! You are a piece of art in your own amazing form...as am I. My willingness in wanting or more so needing to let my self-expression come through started to really show up when I was married. It was at this time, after so much personal learnings of my own, that I began photographing women, I wanted so much to see them step forward and express themselves in ways they dreamed of...I also wanted the same for myself. I then began writing to express myself, for those who needed to hear, that they weren't alone in their thinking, feelings...this was for me as much as it was for those who needed to hear what I have to write. Stepping in front of the camera instead of being behind it all the time came next...again to feel and see myself express, but also to know and feel how my clients did in front of the camera. I won't ask anything of others that I'm not willing to do myself. And now I've brought dance into my world. One thing I've always dreamed of. I'm a beginner, I'm fresh, my body is learning new ways of moving, I feel awkward, shy, I judge myself hard, yet I keep showing up, because I can't not. There is so much of me that holds back, I know it, I feel it, I see it, I even hear my mind telling me...my mind, body & soul scream at me some days to 'Let Go'. I feel safe to express myself behind my own four walls and so bit by bit I'm doing the work and knocking those walls down. I didn't plan any of this, it all just came about as it was meant to, simply because I just couldn't not anymore, it just started to come out, because it had to, it could no longer stay locked up inside me. It was knocking at my door waiting for me to let it out, it was waking me up at night or not letting me go to sleep until I let it out...and there is so much more waiting for me to step to the side to let it spil on out of me. When I see those who express themselves this is what I observe... Freedom, Joy, Connection with self & others on another level, Peace within, Lightness, A magnetic energy that radiates from their soul out into the world. It's beautiful to watch and it's a beautiful way to live. When you step into self expression, you step into freedom! Announcing....R.A.W Portraits Are Back! https://www.charmaine-marinkovich.com/rawportraits Your chance to express yourself in a way that, maybe, you have always dreamed of. Your chance to let the side of you that you keep hidden away, come out and explore. THINK... Black + White studio portraits Exploration of self Skin, Black + White clothing, Freedom to move + express For all details click https://www.charmaine-marinkovich.com/rawportraits Image: Self-Portrait