4 inch heels in a field of dirt

Last year, my family surprised me with a Mother's Day photo shoot in a field. It was kind of like the beginning of Jesus Christ Superstar, the movie. We hauled an old gold couch that my daughter found at the University, a gold chair, some wall paper, lamps, pillows and cups out to a field just east of Regina. Sara was the artistic director, and Riley Stewart, the photographer.

I love the result, and in fact, I have incorporated the couch, fields and endless sky into the branding of my new company, Lynear Thinking.

But this was more than a photo shoot for me. It was the last time my entire family was together, as my daughters both left home the following summer. It was also the beginning of a new era for our family separated by distance.

This open field, blue sky, muddy field photo shoot presented a metaphor for change. It was all about looking to the future, while honoring the past.

The photo shoot also came at a point of eminent change in the lives of all of us.

It was the last time our family was together - that summer both my girls moved out to live their lives. My husband and I were about to become - I loathe this expression - empty nesters.

Up to this point, the family had been the centre of my being. It was the reason for all things. It was the reason for working. It was the reason for getting paid. It was the reason for deciding which neighborhoods to live in. It was the reason for every decision we made.

The thing about change is this: when change is eminent, it calls out to you. In fact, it screams at you. It cannot be ignored. The volume and intensity increases until you give in, and change. If you doubt the intensity of change, think of a single baby being born.

The photo shoot opened my mind, and caused me to rethink what I was living, and what that was saying to my now grown children. Would I want them to endure an existence that was robbing them of their gifts?

How would I respond if I heard a male superior comment on their leg attire ("I like your tights") - when he clearly should have been focusing about 4 feet north?

How should a person respond when a superior advises an employee to be creative in other parts of his or life, not at work. (P.S. When this happened, I smiled, but in my mind, I was saluting him while I felt sorry for him.)

Something else happened that day. As my 4 inch heels sunk into the dirt,the never ending blue sky that brings us all home eventually called out to me, telling me there was more to do.

Somehow it all changed that day. Somehow my daughter took me home to a place where she had never been but where I needed to return. Somehow, I found my way back to where I belong.

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