14/06/2026
I found an old photograph of myself recently, taken around 16 years ago.
I saw a younger version of me before some of life's biggest challenges arrived. Before loss. Before cancer. Before the years that taught me how quickly life can change.
Like many people, I sometimes look back and wonder what I could have done differently. Whether I should have planned more, worried less, or taken different paths.
But something happened recently that shifted my perspective.
I spend much of my time working, helping, supporting, and often putting myself last.
Through both my photography and my work with the charity, I have always been more comfortable behind the scenes, focusing on others rather than myself.
Recently, a friend told me to put the camera down.
Not because I had finished my work.
Not because I was needed elsewhere.
Simply because they wanted me to ride out with them on the horses. To share in the moments I was photographing and looking in on.
It may sound like a small thing, but for someone who has spent a long time measuring their worth by what they give to others, it meant more than I can explain.
Lately, a few people have done something I am not very used to. They have believed in me, encouraged me, recognised what I bring, included me, and reminded me that I do not always have to be the one giving.
Life has not turned out exactly as I imagined all those years ago. There have been challenges I never saw coming, and at times I lost sight of parts of myself along the way.
But recently I have been reminded that some of the most valuable things in life are the people who truly see you.
The people who believe in you when you struggle to believe in yourself. The people who make you feel welcome and remind you that you matter.
Sometimes it is okay to be part of the picture too, and not always the person standing on the outside looking in.
