Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Do you matter in the lives of others? You Matter...








Do you matter in the lives of others? 

Photographer Paul Cockrell has made a difference in mine...


Anyone familiar with my events knows that I honor and appreciate art and artists. You will always find art, wine, cameos, pearls, sailing, water, boating, spas, etc... in everything that I do... The things that speak to my soul... What do I say? "If it doesn't make me happy or feed my soul, I am not doing it anymore!" Art speaks to my soul and evokes an emotional response. I love to share that with others and my design clients know that I introduce original art into each project... either as a purchase or a gift.



Art has played a major role in my life and I don't think that the artist always knows the impact that they create with their work.... All the pieces fell into place when I created and planned my last Energy Summit and had just 3 weeks to pull it together. One piece was that to my surprise, I was invited to hold it in Placerville (my home town that I had only recently visited for the first time in almost 20 years) and I had just started following an amazing photographer that happened to live in Placerville: Paul Cockrell . When I asked him to meet my group, he graciously agreed. 
Little did he know why that mattered so much to me.




How can two people see a small town in such divergent ways and how do they finally come together as one? 

The town that I only pictured in my minds eye in black and white for more than 15 years... Has been brought to life and infused with color... It's charm and character that had been lost in my heart has been pulled forth with the obvious love and care seen through the photographer's lens. Paul has the amazing ability to make cold inanimate objects feel warm and inviting... Not just buildings, but metal and stone. He has gifted me with a shift of how I see my childhood town and enabled me to recall good memories that had long been put away... A trigger of color and warmth where there was none.




The big house on the hill looked pretty from the outside, but the neighbors knew. People in the community saw my family one way, when the reality was askew. We moved to Placerville when I was 6 and I left when I was 19. Thirteen years of hell. You never know what goes on behind closed doors. Once I pulled away, it was physically impossible to go back. I would start to have panic attacks as soon as I would start the ascent up the foothills... Many miles away...  That was my reality and I just stayed away, blocking it from my thoughts.

A Facebook page and reconnecting with some wonderful souls from high school made me take another look. Opened my eyes and mind to the possibilities of even thinking about that town again, the time spent and experiences had...

More tools to shift my paradigm from one extreme to right of center... Would be the art that Paul unknowingly offers...



Bringing back the wondrous memories of a child growing up in a small town... 

Good friends, slumber parties... long bus rides and time to chat...

Sitting with anticipation on the curb near the Bell Tower... eating warm peanuts, watching down the street, enjoying the parade and keeping an eye out for the horses pulling the wagon trains... Flashy saloon girl costumes with stockings and heals... carts with goodies for sale... and the county fair that would follow the parade...





Exploring for hours the fields, meadows and forests... Large boulders partially buried in the ground,
worn out places in the rocks where the Indians had ground egg corns... Surrounded by majestic oak
trees that spurred on the imagination of a child and the life of the women grinding food for their families... the children that played in the creeks, valleys and streams...

Summers spent rafting down the American River, wading in looking for tadpoles, panning for gold...


Chasing cows that had gotten out, horses that needed a saddle, baby goats that needed to be bottle fed... or gathering the eggs that the chickens had laid. The various babies that lived in a play pen and needed their noses wiped and bellies full. Bunnies that multiplied... lessons learned... Animals of all sorts passed through and needed care.

The higher mountains with the smell of pine. The feel and smell of the damp forest floor and the crunch under foot... The hidden swimming holes and ponds for fishing...

Climbing trees... So many trees...

The hours, days and years of exploring unattended and the beauty that was hidden away in my heart.



Paul Cockrell is following his passion. An engineer by trade. His art speaks to his sole and it shows in his work... It spoke to my soul. Thank you to Paul and check out more of his spectacular work. I am a fan. I am a Big Fan and I hope that you will be too.

You can find his work in person at Gold Country Artists Gallery on Main Street in Placerville. 

You do matter. Just like Paul, who never knew the impact that his photography had on me... I am POSITIVE that you too move through the lives of others... touching, impacting and influencing those around you. What are you gifts? I ask my consulting clients to sit and make a daily gratitude journal. Not your ordinary gratitude journal... But, start paying attention to your day. Start noting the things that you do throughout your day that you do to be of value. What makes you special? What makes you... You? I think that you will be surprised and that you will begin to see yourself differently.

You Matter! I promise that you are making a difference in the world and touching others more than you could ever imagine. 
I honor You. I appreciate You. You Matter!

Go out and tell someone else today that they matter and share why they matter to you. The biggest gifts in my life have been from strangers. That is changing and evolving now. But, it has made a huge difference in my life. You can make that difference in the life of someone too! Do it big and let someone other than those in your inner circle know that they matter... and why. That is a precious gift that you can give.

I invite you to come back and share your experience... or go onto my facebook page ( don't forget to like it while you are there) and share in the post thread... Your story too, can change someone's day today.

With Gratitude,

Kimberly Reyes
Lifestyle Curator, Master Networker, Author & Speaker
Founder/Principal 

Kimberly Reyes Lifestyle by DesignDesigning a life with grace and ease