Have you changed over the last year and a half? Like the whole world has?

Since March 2020, the world has become a different place, and who knows what it will be like to get back to 'normal' - what that new 'normal' will be and when we will achieve it.

But what about us people? Have we changed fundamentally? Have our values and ideals and priorities changed? Have we learned new things about ourselves?

Back in 2001 or 2002, when I was first dating my now-husband, I crafted my very first website. It was 'www.backpackingtheplanet.com' (it's not a thing anymore, so don't bother clicking...). It was all about what it was like to travel to new and exciting places as a young woman. I remember talking a lot about quelling the fear of landing in a new and unknown global location by remembering that we were still who we are as people - we had the same values, the same risk-tolerance, the same ability to take care of ourselves as we do in any place - and that these personal traits would carry us through the unknown.

But what about now? After coming a long way through a pandemic with challenges and changes that were unprecedented in our lifetimes?

Personally, I feel the same fundamentally. I still value family and love and connection. I still prioritize sport, fitness and nutrition - and, as always, I still harbour a little too much anxiety about my health and that of my family. I still feel - maybe even more so - that my families traditions and memories are our most prized possessions. I still love summer, lattes, riding my bike, marshmallows, warm socks and feeling accepted and accomplished and successful. 

I still love making people laugh, searching out wondrous locales to capture family portraits, and seeking the beautiful light with which to do so.

At the same time, I've also realized that I have to make time for myself and to nurture some of the projects I've been wanting to tackle. Like updating my own personal printed family photo albums, watching and recording bird sightings and other nature treats, training a little harder on the bike to reach my current maximum potential, and improving my professional craft. 

The latter goal has led me to set up a makeshift studio in our cottage basement. It was there that I decided to update my current headshot. 

Here are five that I like best, the first being my favourite. Which do you like?