As a visual artist, I have a passion for creating images that tell a story. My earlier artwork (all pre-Instagram and mostly pre- Facebook), focused on stories surrounding war, displacement and uncovering the layers of my identity in a post 9–11 world. Exploring these narratives took quite the emotional toll, so when the opportunity to pursue wedding photography came about in 2008, it was a welcome change of scenery. Telling love stories through pretty images was what I had to focus on. 7 years into photographing professionally, I’m now gratefully self-employed as a freelance wedding photographer, but toward the summer of 2013, I felt the need to resume creating visual narratives outside of the realm of matrimony and started with a series entitled Beyond A Label (on-going) featuring hijabi Muslim women. Aside from working to create positive imagery of Muslimahs, each session for the series has proven itself to be a positive learning experience, either through a boost of confidence for the participants or an opportunity for self-reflection.

Over a year into the series and several challenging personal experiences that were occurring simultaneously and prior to, I recently arrived at the realization that I was neglecting one important story: my own. Largely rooted in a lack of self-worth and self-care, I realized I had spent so much time focusing on other narratives without genuinely exploring my own. Whether in regards to my life as a visibly Muslim woman, my place in society as a daughter of Iraqi immigrants to Canada, or the emotionally abusive relationship that I recently walked away from, I had a lot of emotional unpacking and storytelling to explore.

My renewed connection with the deen and a supportive, loving network of family and friends have definitely provided a safe space for healing and growth to occur. Another unexpected source of inspiration and comfort that I gained earlier this year has been Mark Gonzales’ In Times of Terror, Wage Beauty. After recently working on a self-portrait as a treat to myself (insert self-care), as I posted the photo to Facebook, I decided to pair the image with a quote from the book that I felt helped to bolster the sentiment I was working to portray.

One image led to another, and I’m about to work on the seventeenth instalment. While the self-portraits have been extremely enjoyable and therapeutic to create, pairing each one with a quote from Wage Beauty has helped me to not only better explore the emotions that I have been processing, but has also allowed me to connect to a larger narrative of overcoming struggle, gaining and maintaining self-worth and striving to create a reality that works to build and elevate the human spirit.

As Wage Beauty opens, we are gently reminded:

“Even when your breath seems weak & quivering, give thanks. Wounded though an exhale may be, it is scientific proof we are still amongst the land of the living. That alone is reason for hope.”

Although I’m unsure where this chapter of my journey will take me, I look forward to continuing the work that allows my soul to heal and grow.

“For we have vastly limited the definition of healing, loved ones. It is not merely the absence of pain, it is the presence of pleasure.” Mark Gonzales @wagebeauty

“Live. Love. Grow. Even if one cannot make life more beautiful, at least make it more bearable. This should be considered the base for being human.” Mark Gonzales @wagebeauty

“What better way is there to shift a paradigm than by speaking in ways that encourage dreams, laughter and imagination. For those acts of creativity are not luxury, short sighted or simplistic, they are essential.” Mark Gonzales @wagebeauty

“A culture that is not in control of their own narrative will forever live at the mercy of another’s pen.” Mark Gonzales @wagebeauty

“An integral part of nurturing a culture of storytelling into one’s lungs, family or society is simply this: tell your story.” Mark Gonzales @wagebeauty

“In this moment, an echo is occurring across the globe. It is the human spirit craving to be reminded one does not need permission to grow.” Mark Gonzales @wagebeauty

“Know that if even the very physical nature of this world is impermanent, there is no way a wound could be infinite. Every scar will one day be the place where a future garden will grow.” Mark Gonzales @wagebeauty

“Let go of the doubt in the power of your story, even if it seems minuscule. Let go of the doubt in the power of your voice, even if you believe it is a whisper.” @wagebeauty

“Time is infinite, as are we. For one of the most powerful ideas a human being could ever engage is how we are far from dust in the wind powerless. We are the pivot point between all that ever was (ancestors) and all that ever will be (generations to come). Who are we then but ancestors in training.” Mark Gonzles @wagebeauty

“Gravity is an illusion to we who are born of starlight and thermodynamics. For what is starlight but energy? What are humans but energy? What is the 2nd law of thermodynamics but a reminder that energy cannot be created or destroyed? What are we then loved ones, but infinite.” Mark Gonzales @wagebeauty

“Possibility is a universe written in eleven letters. May your life be a love affair with its definition, embodied and advanced with each breath.” Mark Gonzales @wagebeauty

“Educate the Human Heart. Elevate the Human Mind. Grow the Human Soul.” Mark Gonzales @wagebeauty

“Say it with me:
Now is not the time to be timid.
Now is not the time to be timid.
Now is not the time to be timid.”

In Times of Terror, Wage Beauty. @wagebeauty

“Listen to your heart. Give thanks to those who came before, then leave behind a little more than what you were given. Do not limit intelligence to solely the mind. Be a genius of heart. Your genetics already are. Playing small only benefits your enemies.”

In Times of Terrory, Wage Beauty. @wagebeauty

“Look up. Look around. Listen. See and hear the echoes of your wounds and dreams all around you. Know that you are never alone as you think. We may even be in the majority. Each point of connection with another transforms them from stranger into ally in the healing process.”

In Times of Terror, Wage Beauty. @wagebeauty

“Even when your breath seems weak & quivering, give thanks. Wounded though an exhale may be, it is scientific proof we are still amongst the land of the living. That alone is reason for hope.”

In Times Of Terror, Wage Beauty. @wagebeauty

“…whenever possible, grow wings, even if you are the only one who can see them. For wings are a metaphysical metaphor for refusing to be held down in a world where there are so many stars to explore.”

In Times of Terror, Wage Beauty. @wagebeauty

“There are nine words that comprise three separate three word mantras that are the secret to our genetic resilience. Learn them. Live them. Say them.

We will heal. We will grow. We will win.”

In Times of Terror, Wage Beauty. @wagebeauty

“For stories are the engine of identity. Language is the mechanics that construct our ideas of self and other. Our love is the space fuel. Our imagination is the map that guides across this road trip of life. We are the drivers and starlight navigators. Now is the time to drive courageously.”

In Times Of Terror, Wage Beauty. @wagebeauty

“We are not ugly because we are wounded. What is ugly are those who inflict scars on innocence. Beautiful is we who endured what was inflicted and are reclaiming our self, our sanity, and our future. This is what it means to wage beauty, to embrace ourselves in personal and structural ways that transform a world of wounds into one that is nurturing.”

In Times of Terror, Wage Beauty, @wagebeauty

To Purchase Mark Gonzales’ book In Times of Terror, Wage Beauty click book image below