In Water, We Flow

In water, we flow, we connect. We find our power. Women who came together as strangers and left as sisters. The presence of water grounding us, uniting us.

Journeying from Canada, I made my way to Kenya in search of connection. There I met Gabbi from Kenya, Nyabalang from South Sudan and Louis from the Netherlands. With the intention to come together collectively to create beautiful photographs, we left with so much more than images. Coming together in the sacred waters of Lamu, Kenya we found sisterhood. Each of us on different life paths, coming from different places and different cultures. We uncovered what passions lie below the surface of each of us, what ignites us on this journey. Each through our own hardships we came together collectively to feel compassion, to feel unconditional love. As a woman in her late-twenties, this was something I had been yearning for most of my life. To feel sisterhood, to feel this connection.

Through curiosity and conversation, we uncovered what lied beneath each of us. A craving for community and connection. How beautiful it was to experience it by the end of our seven days together. So often society feeds women to compete, to outdo one another. That our external appearance is what matters most and if you don't fit social norms, you aren't worthy of love. That you can't trust your intuition, that somehow everybody knows more about your experience and your body than you do. To laugh, to cry, to smile and to dance together was a powerful experience. We rebuilt one another from the ashes to become more whole.

The energy from the Indian Ocean was palpable through this experience. It was a constant reminder to surrender to the flow of the moment. That we came from the water and to the water we will one day return. We as women are like water in so many ways; creators and nurturers of life, our adaptability to many states, our strength and fluidity. Creating together in Lamu reminded us of these similarities.