“You hear the steps of your feet graze and roll the stones, pebbles, and gravel that carry you. You trek on following a path to a certain destination, being flooded with images of green foliage, busy bees, pandering butterflies, scurrying squirrels, hawks overhead being the constant reminder that you are in their kingdom. Your breath begins to struggle, so you pause. Take a deep breath. The mountains tower over you with their majesty. Hills going for miles on end. You fill so small yet so powerful. You fill so distant yet so connected. Your heart catches up with your breath and body. Your spirit steeps in the serenity, simplicity, and stillness of nature. You are rest-assured in this moment that all is well; you are okay. ”
The carousel of pictures that you see above was captured by Chelsea Mohr. She fell in love with nature and the art of photography because of her dad. At the very young age of 4, she remembers going on the boat with him and venturing out in the swamps of Louisiana being enraptured by all the wild-life and the peace and calm of this experience.
Chelsea Mohr has found a safe place that is powered by a more natural rhythm and a more grounded way of being, and it is deeply ingrained in her from her upbringing and her love for nature. When Chelsea Mohr was a little girl, she was wooed by the splendor and calm nature brought her. This is her story:
“While hiking, I would feel calm and relaxed like all of my problems would immediately go away. Being in nature, I felt connected to it in a way. It felt like I was meant to be there. Like all of my stress and problems immediately went away. I just went to Death Valley, and it is completely desolate. It was completely empty yet I felt so open and free.”
She went on to share that she deals with generalized anxiety disorder, and she has found that nature has become her outlet to find calm and peace to the point where she doesn’t have to take medication. She has chosen to find a more natural and healthy outlet to support the anxiety she deals with on the daily. She feels like she can’t take on as much as other people can, but this does not stop her for living the life she wants.
She not only deals with anxiety, but she was diagnosed with AVM, arteriovenous malformation, in her brain where she has had to get radiation to remove this, but part of the symptoms she deals with every day because of this condition is unpredictable seizures which can have further complications. Being only 25 years old, she has had to come to terms with how unpredictable death is at a very young age.
She doesn’t allow her conditions to cripple her; she uses them to catapult her to living life to the fullest by taking risks and truly savoring every drop of life that she is gifted with every day.
She continued.
“AVM is something you are born with, but I did not find out until I was 19, and it’s what made me realize that life is so short and so precious, and it is really what has got me to want to preserve these moments as a photographer. It dawned on me that I won’t be here forever. I have realized that I need to save these memories and take in all that I can.”
She has not just lived this out with her photography. She has also chosen to live this out by taking risks through new experiences, traveling, and meeting new people.
“I was an only child, and I did things on my own for most of my life. Of course, my friends love to go hiking but not as much as I did. I actually ended up going to a local hiking spot on my own, and through that I realized that I am able to do all these things by myself. I was about 20 years old when I did that. That led me to go to Canada, and I took a 2-day solo trip. By choosing to travel to Canada, on my way there that is where I met my boyfriend, Jeff. Going to Canada made me realize that I can take risks. I have lived in Louisiana all of my life, so I wanted to experience something new, so that is what made me want to move out to Southern California all on my own.”
What cards have you been dealt with in life? Are you going to give them the power to cripple you or catapult you forward to savor every drop of life this journey offers us.
We are in such a rush to do and get things done where we forget to experience, truly taste, really see life’s intricacies for what they really are. We miss the mesmerizing sunsets, the warmth of sun rays, the smell of freshly roasted coffee, the glimmer of the night stars, the hurt and pain of someone’s season, the bloom of spring flowers, the coos of babies, boisterous laughter amongst close friends; we miss out on life when we don’t slow down.
Chelsea is so thankful that she grew up in Louisiana where Southern hospitality is grown deeply in her roots as a person. She feels that people can misunderstand her as being quiet or timid, but she says she desires to truly listen to what people are saying, feel what they are feeling, and savor all that life is offering in that moment.
Be encouraged this week to listen closely, see fully, and savor the fullness of what life offers.
Support Chelsea Mohr by following her @mohrchelsea and take time to visit her website at chelseamohr.com. Also, take the time to see more of her work, The Fith.