Erin Nolen s one of the most intentional women I know. She's a wonderful photographer, writer, gardener, and "namer." But she is also a wife, mother, and friend who's done lots of internal work to be present with and see and advocate for her kids and others. I asked Erin this question:
What good do you want to bring to the world?
I want to accompany people on the paradoxical path that going toward our stories of pain is actually the way to experiencing wholeness as beloved humans. I want to teach, show, and embody what it means, in the words of Dr. Hillary McBride, to “go toward what hurts.” In a culture that shouts at us to do more, produce more, experience more, I want to foster a community where we are safe to embrace our limits as fragile but intentionally complex image bearers of the living, moving, playful God. I believe our basic needs of safety, sleep, nourishment, play, time in nature, service, and connection are necessary foundations of what it means to live a beautiful and full life. Simply put, embracing our limitations and needs is the way toward expansiveness. I believe in the power of story work, that a good, kind, creative God pursues God’s people (all of them) and calls them (all of them) toward goodness and wholeness, and that we can know God more fully by honoring the brokenness and beauty in our one-of-a-kind stories. God calls forth goodness in me to offer to others through the means of writing, photography, gardening, and friendship.
You can read Erin's essays here and follow her on Instagram and if you want family photos, she's your person.