The best part about being more open on my website is that I can now look back on the different seasons in my life: The highs and lows, and appreciate the journey. Last year inadvertently became a journey of self-discovery! I wrote countless posts about self, self-love, awareness, and stumbling to find myself without really realizing it was all I ever talked about! Finding myself has always been important to me and the years prior to last year have had their fair share of self-discovery posts but none quite like 2018! If you map out the posts, you can see the slow unfolding of my self-discovery journey over the months of 2018! From the earlier posts in the year that centered around self-love and finding my tribe, right down to the more definitive posts where I confirm what I was born to do and reestablish the role of my brand in the industry and society! I am so grateful to have these “journal entries” to look back on my journey and to have had you along for the ride! It feels good to be here, but my work is not finished! At least, I can come back to these posts when I’m feeling lost again. They include beautiful insights that we can all use to remind us why we are here! I highlight my favorite quotes from the posts, but you can read more on the ones that you feel more connected to in the links.
Here are the posts in 2018 that lined the path of my road to self-discovery
Finding your tribe
In making connections, finding your tribe and yourself… it is better to be rejected for who you are than to be accepted for who you are not. This is how you find you. This is how you find yours.
Pay attention to what bubbles to the surface when you allow your heart to settle where it is most calm. This is your reflection. Meet it with acceptance – Yours Truly
A singular narrative
Don’t rob the world and especially yourself of your beautiful story because, truthfully, no one before or after you would ever be able to tell it quite like you.— Yellow Sun
On Personal Style
My personal style is based on characters from films I’ve watched, stories I’ve read and others I’ve imagined. – My personal style
Passionate about Travel
Being a traveler at heart, I will take anything that transports me to a distant memory– Summer Scent
Settle into Who You Are
Come to a place of Rest that everything will work out. & Settle, settle into who you are—your power & what makes you unique—love and honor it. Never dim it or hide it. Choose the person you are over everything and everyone and allow it to magnetize your tribe and your share of the amazing gifts of life. – To an Amazing year
Meaningful Work
For the first time, I could finally respond to the “what’s the point?” question. I felt like after 7 years I finally get it beyond the picture taking. And I thank God it’s all finally coming together. I decided I no longer want to simply be an observer, documenting what I see on the streets and saying very little about it, instead; I want to translate it into something meaningful—to bridge the gap between “I don’t get it” and everyday inspiration. — Bridging the gap
Summer Romance
I may not have been certain about much, but summer, I was sure would not last forever, so I did everything to enjoy every bit of it—dancing by the docks, warm evenings sitting out on the terrace of a restaurant, the frosé! the laughter, the new friends, the old ones. I took none of it for granted. & Baltimore, with which I had started a summer fling, never looked so beautiful. – Summer recap
On Travel
The biggest mission of the travel section of my website—and honestly, a huge part of my brand itself—has been to retell the stories of cities. – Another Baltimore Story
Confidence amidst Rejection
All the rejection I have faced has pushed me to work harder and to make myself impossible to ignore. I want my presence and work to send out vibrations to shake up what is mine, and if it is still being rejected I see it as room to improve!
I love that I can now confidently say BYE! to who and what is not for me because I know it only gets me closer to myself and what’s really mine. – Thank you, next
On Chasing Crazy Ideas
As an artist, I believe the crazy ideas that come upon our hearts are gifts from God. And sometimes, they feel ridiculous and impossible, but it is always important to take God upon it and at least try. That’s how you honor the idea and that’s how you become worthy of more. – In sunflower fields
Born to create
This website was self-taught but, best of all, self-made! Every single detail by heart and with soul. By October of 2016, I believed it “The greatest gift creativity ever gave me was in its teaching that nothing is impossible” I had a dreamed up a world and Armenyl.com would come to be what I created it for : a world I created to explore the extents of my gifts and talents. — The New Armenyl.com
Getting back on track
But, somehow along the way, I had lost focus of that out of desperation. Desperation not only to meet financial needs but also for validation. To be approved by likes and followers that I was doing something right. When the site was not even created for them. It was created to be a place of my creative expression and I had forgotten that. — The New Armenyl.com
At the core: The Philosophy behind Armenyl
I realized the only chance I could give this site was to find myself again and go back to the initial story of Armenyl. A place where I dream up ideas and create them, a place where I hope to bridge cultures through photojournalism, and rewrite stories of people and places that have been stigmatized by stereotypes, where I share our beautiful world, but most especially, and this is the core of Armenyl, a place where I push to see the ends of the gifts that God has put in me until I have exhausted it completely and have nothing more to say. But, in order to get back there, I have to start from a place of loving what I do wholeheartedly and doing it to serve, inspire, and make a positive difference.
The new Armenyl is driven by purpose and backed by an act of service to the world around me. I want to, most of all, create with meaning from now onwards, and use this tool, my gifts, in a way that touches, educates, and empowers others. I haven’t fully figured it all out yet, but I have some exciting ideas so far and the new site features and layout has been designed to accommodate these new dreams. — The New Armenyl.com
A New Kind of Storytelling
I’ve been fascinated with storytelling all my life…When I picked up photography, it was a new kind of storytelling to me. I could stage things in the picture to create the same stories I wrote about…Last year, I started playing with this idea of telling the story of travel through fashion by creating dresses/fashion editorials inspired by all the beautiful places I’ve visited…For me, it is like giving back to places I love. Giving back to it, the stories that it has told me. — Autumn Leaves – The Story Behind the Dress
Giving back to the dreamer in you
And now I can give this back to my 8-year-old self and all her childlike fantasies. I may have grown up doubtful in the name of being realistic and called your innocent dreams “far-fetched” fantasies, but today I give this back to you: The power of realizing a dream. – Autumn Leaves – The Story Behind the Dress
Becoming Armenyl
I had reached the point where this project and my dream to create it were bigger than any insecurity and fear. I dedicated myself a 100% to giving it my heart and soul, listening for the stories that it told me and chasing them courageously.
I owe all of the courage and strength in creating this to God! I didn’t know I had it in me and I still don’t how I was able to pull this off by myself. All I know is I showed up every day ready to work and give my all and the rest aligned itself—God met me each time right where I needed Him. — How I created and photographed myself in this dress
The Journey Begins…
It was 11 years ago in the fall when I was going through a hard time that my grandmother reminded me to “create my own happiness” and I’ve counted on that principle to get me through ever since. She created her own happiness by writing children’s books and I was going to create mine with art. Sitting here today I remember her and hope she is proud! — How I created and photographed myself in this dress