here’s the first of hopefully many inspira(shown) posts to come. if you need a refresher on the idea behind this, here it is. if someone inspires you- even in the simplest of ways- send me an email at jordan@jordanquinnphoto.com to nominate them. let’s get their stories told. because these are the stories that deserve to be told with photography. these are the ones that celebrate the extraordinary nature of everyday life. and these are the ones i want to be more intentional about finding and shooting. here’s sarah’s.
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she invited me into her home while the kiddos were napping upstairs. she has the kind of home that you breathe in deep when you enter through the front door. it’s a space that resembles something from a real simple magazine, full of crisp character and warmth. books are strewn about on her kitchen table. titles like the dirty life: farming, food and love, and seven: an experimental mutiny against excess have just been read, inspiring her resourcefulness and approach to simple, sustainable living each day.
she’s crafting away at centerpieces for her sister-in-law’s wedding coming up and mother’s day cards for the other women in her life. and she crafts with what she has- centerpieces out of old book pages and mother’s day cards from photos she’s taken. i sit while she mod-podges and it’s a kind of therapy for me, like the same feeling us girls get when someone plays with our hair. her whole demeanor is graceful. her storytelling forces you to rest a bit, and just listen. she’s telling me about the celery salt she’s learning to make from things in her garden and bread she’s making because her boys love it so much. i see the dough on the countertop, being left to rise. we’re talking about the lima bean soup she’s planned out for dinner. we’re chatting about life as it happens now with her boys, liam and parks. i’m pointing out things i love in her home and she’s telling me what garage sale she found it at. i love that.
liam wakes up from his nap and hops downstairs, still rubbing his eyes from sleep. ”c’mere pup,” and she props him up on his high chair. milk and raisins are the after-nap ritual. as soon as parks wakes up, he’s having the same snack in front of the screen door so he can watch what’s going on outside. there were few places i would have rather been than in that kitchen with homemade bread baking in the oven, watching sarah play with her two pups. it was a privilege to watch them in their home for a bit. i thought about how i want to do it just like this someday maybe. i want to remember to soak in the most simplest of treasures that are within my own home.
the next morning, i promised i’d come back and head out to a farm with the three of them. she plans adventures for her boys that teach them about the world around them. we visited pot pie farm, local to st. michael’s on the eastern shore of maryland. she taught her boys about chickens, farming, crops, and organic living. she told me she’s looked into having some chickens of her own because she wants those fresh eggs. she lets the boys run wild and explore. they’re coloring on chalk boards, they’re digging through dirt, they’re watering plants, they’re playing on the tire swing. and on the way home, i turn to the backseat to see parks dead asleep, good and dirty from the farm.
there’s beauty in how that family lives their lives. there’s beauty in how they demonstrate daily how to swim upstream in a world that prefers technology, convenience, and immediacy instead of simplicity, sustenance, and dirt on your hands. there’s beauty in the home sarah and her husband have created for their two boys, fostering magic and imagination and honesty in their boys, raising them to become their best and truest selves. in the time i spent with sarah, i watched as she intentionally opened up a world for her boys that invited them in to get dirty, eat healthfully, explore wildly, live wholistically, and take full advantage of their life on the eastern shore where they’re so blessed to live. the area is for farmer’s markets and roadside stands. garage sales and refurbishing. eating and growing organic. wildflowers and waterfronts. it’s a dreamland out there and i thought how rare it is to keep two boys entertained and mindful out there away from so much. i became so aware of how every minute of a mother’s life is no longer her own. but i was also so aware of how much pure joy the boys have just by being allowed to be what they are – just kids.
motherhood. the wonder of it needs to be celebrated & appreciated more than just this upcoming sunday.
she selects wool and flax and works with eager hands. she provides food for her family. she considers a field and buys it, out of her earnings she plants sustenance. she sets about her work vigorously, her arms are strong for her tasks. she extends her hands to the needy. she is clothed with strength and dignity. she speaks with wisdom. she watches over the affairs of her household. her children arise and call her blessed, her husband also. proverbs 31
