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{“muse” | may 2013 | nikon d700 | lensbaby composer }
It’s been a year. A year since I was invited into this amazing group of women, a year since I started writing these letters to you. So much has happened in a year – how much both you and I have changed; thinking about it is like going back and seeing my future as present tense. Not a day goes by that I’m not reminded of how things change, how they evolve; how people, situations, feelings, circumstances, lives, can become something so different from what you imagined…and how brutiful the effects of these changes can be.
I have watched you change, Wren Alice. I have watched you become so much more “little girl” than baby; watched as you have grown taller, stronger, more outspoken…more you. You can ride your bike now, and you love to go as fast as you can singing “newspaper! newspaper!”, you shut the car door and try to buckle your own seatbelt. You feed the cat, you reach the sink, you beg for a haircut “just like Connor’s”. Your whole life is different that it was just a year ago and I’m in awe of how much you’ve changed, and how much you’ve stayed the same. I wonder which parts of who you are now will carry along with you, year after year. Which of these parts of you will I be both seeing and remembering 20 years from now when we’re sitting together, laughing and sipping coffee, or as I watch you cradle a child of your own.
Looking at you now, I’m overwhelmed. Here you are; you are different yet the same and I love you more than I did, as if I ever thought it possible. It never ceases to amaze me how much love can happen in 365 days…that’s all, sweet girl…just one year.
I love you Wren Alice
love mama
{“wren” | april 2013 | nikon d700 | 50mm 1.8, lensbaby composer }
This month I’m linking to Debbie Wibowo from Delight Fine Art Photography. I’m so glad to have been introduced to her work this year, her images are full of light and soul; a true delight for both the heart and eye.
[...] please head over to see what the wonderful Julia of Julia Stotlar Photography is sharing with her beautiful daughter [...]
oh yes, what a mere 365 days can mean. how they change. and how lucky we are to bear witness to it <3.
She has grown so much in just a short year. Every day she is growing to look more and more like her stunning mama. I love that first photo of her so much. She is like a little mermaid. 
Such beautiful words, Julia. xoxo
she is sublimely beautiful, and you shine the most delicate veil of a spotlight on her. like your love is part of the light. a carefully sewn lace. and your words are so pure. so. pure. i can feel you feeling them. and yes, i relate, but because you MADE me relate, because you spoke them so simply and eloquently, that you let us in to your warm, well lit world. the way you wonder at who she will be, which parts she will keep, was especially touching. i feel so connected with your heart, it’s crazy. xoxo
julia…i always love when you post sneak up on me somewhere in the middle of my cray range of emotions as i read everyones letters…why? because the way you “speak”, your voice, your lessons, YOU AS A MOTHER…is just so calming and eloquent AND ELEGANT, ha yes i said that elegant haha. but in all seriousness your way of being, of mothering is so dreamlike and elegant all at once. thank you
Such a sweet simple reminder of how things change, and what stays the same – so wonderfully put, and topped off with such beautiful images of your sweet Wren
Julia, I will never tire of seeing those sweet fingers to her mouth, such a childish and pure expression of herself that you document so beautifully. THe love that you have for Wren translates so purely in your words – I can almost feel that love that she must feel in you, through them. So very blessed to be able to come here and read your letters each month, I do and have always found you truly inspiring. <3
Wow, Wren Alice has indeed grown so much this past year… she is absolutely beautiful. I love that she still has her fingers in her mouth. My heart was filled with a strange concoction of joy and nostalgia at the thought of you, sitting with her 20 years from now, holding her own baby.. what will be the same (those gentle eyes i am sure) and what will have changed. Oh what a beautiful thought. Love you friend. xo
GASP, Julia! That first image. Oh my…absolutely adore that! I often wonder the same thing like you in terms of what will remain and what will change 20 years from now. One thing I am certain is that she will enjoy reading your letters 20 years from now. I look forward to watching her grow through your letters, Julia.
Fear. It’s a very real, very powerful force, and I know that throughout your life, you’ll face it over and over again. Fear is something that I’m quite familiar with, but over the years I have come to learn to appreciate it, to embrace it, to even enjoy it just a little bit. You see, as the song goes, “fear is a friend who’s misunderstood” – fear is something that keeps us safe, that keeps our minds tuned to danger, or to situations that might not be good for us…but fear can also serve to remind us that we’re doing something new, something exciting, something wonderfully different that is helping us grow, helping us unfold, helping us become who we are. It can be scary to try new things and to face new circumstances; as you grow, fear will be there in new schools, new people, a yellow bus, bigger scooters, taller slides, harder tests, bigger challenges, finding yourself far from home, falling off your bike, falling behind, falling in love. I’ve learned to walk alongside my fear, to listen to it whisper but not let it get so loud that I become too afraid to try new things, to experience my life in a new way, to be brave. Fear always has something to say; I hope that you’ll listen carefully to yours, and that when the time is right, you’ll ride the roller-coaster, you’ll climb the mountain, you’ll take the leap. I hope that you’ll find it within yourself to risk the fall so that you can know how it feels to fly.
I love you Wren Alice
Love, mama
{ “fearless” | september 2012| nikon d700 | 16mm fisheye }
I’m linking to the beautiful and talented Emma Wood this month. Her images and letter are absolutely breathtaking.
[...] please head over and visit the oh so talented Julia of Julia Stotlar Photography – her carefree images and wonderful words to her daughter always fill me with [...]
i always feel things alongside of you when you write. and then the pictures. the pictures are from somewhere else, but a somewhere else i know, where i have been before, where i want to be. i don’t know how you do this, with a wispy, dreamy, otherworldly longing that settles in and seems to answer every question we have. you picked something so universal to tell her, something i have been thinking about so much these days. the fear comes with the joy. it’s a package. i am imagining this picture of her, in front of her when she gets older. so beautiful julia. it is making me cry. i love how your letters are for both of you. xoxoxoxo
oh julia this is so eloquently written and so beautiful captured its simply magical and reality colliding! you are so amazing my friend, your letters are lessons and experiences all wrapped into one beautiful little box. thank you for teaching me too xoxo
Oh Julia.. i know you were writing this for little Wren Alice, but how did you know it is what I needed to read today? It is so true.. fear is a friend who is misunderstood. You are so wise my friend. xo
Julia, that is such a beautifully written letter! To the point and so meaningful. Like Rashmi said, this is kinda a reminder for me too. I will show this letter to my daughter. I know she will need it someday.
You’ve summed something we all feel up perfectly here Julia – in a way that advises but doesn’t patronise, that warns but opens her up too – and your image fits with it just perfectly too…
Beautifully written!
That is one of the coolest images I have ever seen, the sky, the sun, your little one scooting through it. I LOVE fisheye. I love that image is the perfect reflection for your letter about facing fear head-on. I love that you encourage your Wren to move right through it, over it, with it, under it and up it as we all know it comes in so many forms. To believe in herself. Such an important lesson, especially for little girls. So rich and poignant. So perfect. Thank you.
To know me is to know my love for the imperfect. It took me a long time in my life to learn that imperfection is where the beauty is; the beauty in things, as well as the beauty in us. The bumps, the curves, the mistakes, the quirks, the out of focus, the slightly off, the real. This is where the best of life lies, in the imperfections. I hope that as you discover yours, you will choose to embrace them, to cherish them in yourself and in the world around you, in the people you meet, in the people you come to love. Imperfect is movement and light and laughter and life, it is honesty and openness, it is round and soft and sight and sound; it is love. I pray that you will never try and have a perfect life, that you will never try to be a perfect person; that you will see the greatness in imperfect things and be proud of the things that make you different and unique. This image of you is incredibly imperfect; it is full of things that are “wrong”, things that missed the mark; but I love it. I love it more because of those imperfections, because when I see it, I can hear you laughing, I can feel your joy; I am right back there in that silly, noisy, moving, giggling moment. It’s like you, like me, like life; perfectly imperfect.
I love you Wren Alice
Love, mama
{ “imperfect” | january 2013 | nikon d700 | lensbaby composer with edge 80 optic }
I’m linking to the incredible Amy Grace this month. Every time I read one of her posts, I’m moved beyond words. She is a truly gifted writer and photographer and I’m honored to share her work with you.
amy grace | a beautiful life photo | san diego, ca
JULIA!!!!! you already know how much i adore this image and everything it says on its own…but ummm, girl, your words…gah i am speechless. the special thing about what you wrote is someone like me across internet land can read it and it hits me right in the heart, yet someday 10, 20, 30 years from now sweet wren will read it and it will affect her the same way. so perfectly imperfect sweet friend
Julia, your letter and image couldn’t be more perfect! I completely agree with what you wrote. Your wordings are just beautiful.
you, julia, are full of grace. you have this special gift for finding the quiet in a moment, like a seed, the tiny thing that is divine. your style, the understated, dream-like, world is spinning but we are right here, still, safe, lit from within…it mesmerizes me. it is so unique and careful and a thing of real beauty, of art. and your soul is here too, like air around her. you amaze me. i have a feeling we could talk for days and days. this love you feel…you just illustrated it. perfectly YOU.
Amy Grace is so on the mark.. GRACE is the word that pops into my head when I read your letter, when I see your photos. Your words are just so beautiful, so calm and so so true. Love does not look perfect. It is flawed, it is not always easy.
Wren Alice is such a lucky girl to have you, a mama full of grace as her mother.
So perfectly, imperfect – in every way – in the image, in the words, in how you capture how life is and tell your sweet Wren that too
I love how you have brought such love to the most even surface. It is refreshing to know this about you and your philosophy and that it is OK. That perfect is your Wren and that it runs through you and her. I know that I need to strive for more of the imperfect, because that is what makes us perfect. Just let things be as they will be. Such a great life lesson for us all. Thank you!
I wake up in the morning to sounds of you playing in your room. I walk in and there you are, crazy bedhead braids, smiling to see me, and I’m overwhelmed with gratitude. I’m thankful that you are here; safe, warm, happy. I’m thankful that you are in your room, making noise, singing, playing your beloved ukulele – that you are HERE. A very simple thing – you’re here. Here with me where I can touch you, hear you, smell your sweet stinky morning breath, listen to you chatter away about your day, check on you at night as you sleep. Something happened in the world a few days ago, Wren. Something so awful, so sad, so heartbreaking that it’s hard to even think about, hard to type even a word about it. Sometimes bad things happen, and out of the bad, we find some good – today, that good is my awareness of you and your brothers; my awareness of how precious you are, and how blessed I am to have you. I’m mindful of how amazing it is to be able to wake up to your face, your songs, your noise, to hear even the sounds of you arguing with your brothers. It’s like music, the sounds of you – and it fills me with incredible joy. I can’t deny that along with that joy there is some sadness, an ache deep in my bones; because right now, on this very morning, there are moms and dads that would give anything, absolutely anything, just to hear that sweet music again.
I’m so blessed that you are here in this world with me. I won’t forget that.
I love you Wren Alice.
Love, mama
{ “music” | december, 2012 | nikon D700 | 50mm 1.8 }
Follow around the circle of blogs to read more letters and see work from some of my amazing fellow photographers.
Sarah Cornish | Colorado photographer
Love so much Julia!! You can tell what a beautiful spirit she has and I have no doubt that is because you are such an amazing mama!! There is So much love and joy in your words and images!!!!
I’ve felt a lot like you these last days, like many other mothers. <3 I love this series. She looks so much like you in that first photo.
julia…oh my sweet friend. this is perfect. soft and real and warm and cozy and grateful and glowing kind of perfect. i hear your words like they are coming from my own mind, daydreams, worries, and love. you make images that wrap us all in beauty and warmth. they are so distinctive to me, it’s as if you MAKE the light yourself. this is all stunning, as is your heart.
Being able to hug, love, and cherish our children everyday is such a gift, and you captured that in beautiful words in your letter, Julia. She has a very sweet face and love your lifestyle approach on this one. Looks like she adores her pink guitar! Cute. 
I think you touched such a sweet spot with our daughters, they are HERE. They are here. It is huge in the wake of our tragedy in Newton that we all, as parents, as teachers, and as sons and daughters had a loss that day. Your sweet Wren is making some sweet music in these images and she is Here.
Oh Julia, tears! This is so profound. You’ve written about the tragedy in such a meaningful and touching way. What happened has been on my mind constantly, and I sat down and wrote a letter to my kids after it happened — to try and put it in perspective for the day they learn about that kind of horrible heartbreak. Your sweet girl is such a ray of sunshine! Love all of these!
JULIA! i couldnt agree more…just the simplicity of the word and the meaning of it has such enormity, our babies are HERE. them being here changed our lives from the moment they got HERE and continues to do so. oh my…those bedhead braids steal my heart and i can hear the music little Wren is playing…xoxo
Somehow you put into words what all we Mama’s feel about such sadness – and yet you also lightened us up with those words and beautiful images – thank you Julia x
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zoe - beautiful. and LOVE the Tyler Knott Gregson piece that you put with it. man, i need to play with my lensbaby.