A little over a year ago a girl with big eyes, bigger dreams, a naive soul, and an open heart flew into the Santa Barbara airport on a little Horizon airplane. That girl is portrayed in the picture above. She is a child thrust into the big world of reality. A girl forced into a more grown up role. I know this girl, she used to be me. This is the Kiana that existed before everything changed. I took this self portrait with a 4×5 view camera. I took it the day my family’s wonderful Golden Retriever passed away. I was heartbroken. I spent much of the next few months heartbroken. My Grandpa had recently passed away, my uncle passed away, and my dog passed away.
The pictures below represent who I am now. They too are self portraits, but they couldn’t be more different then the ones I once took. Photography, my amazing boyfriend, my best friends (my roomies), my family, and my sister all helped transform me. But, the biggest transition simply happened within myself. I’m more carefree, confident, happy, and secure in how my life will end up now. I have no doubts that my world is full of love. I now know that no matter what the situation is, everything WILL be okay. I am so thankful for the amazing opportunities that have shaped me into who I am now. I still have big eyes, my dreams have not shrunk but instead have tripled in size, I’m less naive, but my heart remains open. It’s been the absolute best year of my life. =D Thanks to everyone who made it so. <3
