Live Life Lux Events are an opportunity to create space for joy and fun, to stop and reflect.

Through Live Life Lux events we can connect deeply with this one precious life with great intention.

Our first event was a BYOB event at Rosebridge Farm & Sanctuary in Montgomery County, PA. Rosebridge is a self-ascribed “hidden piece of paradise, as it is home to many rescued animals.” They are 100% correct about that. They offer in-person bottle feeding and snuggle animal husbandry sessions and so much more. This truly is a magical place nestled in suburban Montgomery County, right outside of Philadelphia.

One of our Live Life Lux events included a farm tour and piglets!

Lux Summit Studio, in line with our Live Life Lux philosophy, hosted an event which included baby goat snuggles, calf feeding, piglet pets, and a farm tour. The evening concluded sipping wine with the goats while the piglets were put to bed and the rescue camels (you heard me right) settled in for the night.

We were so grateful to be surrounded by familiar faces of past clients and friends as well as fresh faces.

The very first Live Life Lux event was a huge hit. We were so grateful to be surrounded by familiar faces of past clients and friends (like Maria, founder of Life Foundation, and Liz Italia, Cat behaviorist and owner of Liz’s Kitty Boot Camp) as well as fresh faces. Mark your calendars for September 15th when we’ll host another Live Life Lux event returning to Rosebridge Farm for more rescue animal therapy.

Check out the official behind-the-scenes video from our very first Live Life Lux event at Rosebridge Farm.

Caution: Contents of this video may melt your heart.

The post Live Life Lux Events: Rosebridge Farm & Sanctuary, Montgomery County, PA appeared first on Lux Summit Studio.

Live Life Lux:

Perspectives From Philadelphia Entrepreneur, Photographer, Author and Speaker Kristen Kidd

The importance of joy and fun in life can easily be lost in our hectic daily living. Prioritizing joy and fun in our adulthood can feel frivolous. In the midst of a never-ending to do list, it’s the first thing to drop off. We wonder, “How could I possibly go for a hike right now? How could I join that club or take that class or go on that vacation?” Sometimes we take it a step further. We label the desires of our hearts as selfish. Surmising that so many around us need so much from us, we couldn’t possibly divert precious resources for our own joy. We can’t “afford” to prioritize our own joy, let alone fun. What science is teaching us (and our inner voice of our highest self, if we listen) is that we can’t afford not to make joy and fun a priority. It is essential to being our best self, living our best life, and doing the best for ourselves, our loved ones, and the world around us.

As Simon Sinek says, “Putting yourself first is not selfish. Quite the opposite. You must put your happiness and health first before you can be of use to anyone else.” 

“With joy your don’t have to put on a happy face.

You can be joyful in the midst of the toughest situations.” – Neal Samudre 

It’s important to differentiate between joy and happiness. Joy is an embodiment and state of being that transcends a feeling. Whereas happiness is a feeling. In a fantastic article in Medium by Neal Samudre, cofounder of Enjoyco and therapist specializing in joy, he differentiates happiness and joy this way, “Happiness is a fleeting emotion based on external circumstances…But joy is an internal positivity that’s connected to hope. It’s the feeling that everything will turn out okay. With joy, you don’t have to put on a happy face. You can be joyful in the midst of the toughest situations.”  

Joy can help ward off the daily grinds to our well-being.

In that same article, Neal shares three reasons joy is essential to our lives. He qualifies each reason with scientific evidence. These reasons include the fact that joy makes us resilient and resistant. He explains, “If resilience is about bouncing back from disturbances then resistance is about being immune to disturbances.”

Of course, we will experience devastation in our lives, but joy can help ward off the daily grinds to our well-being and help us heal when challenges do come our way. Neal shares the third reason joy is essential is because it makes us healthy. Citing research indicating that one of two reasons life expectancy dropped in 2018 was despair and research linking laughter and high-quality relationships to longevity. 

Cultivating a practice of fun can feel like a whole other level of self-absorption. In the face of continual global and personal devastation, who would be so entitled as to make fun a priority? Writer Jack Gilbert answered this best in his poem, A Brief For The Defence,

“If we deny our happiness, resist our satisfaction,

we lessen the importance of their deprivation.

We must risk delight. We can do without pleasure,

but not delight. Not enjoyment. We must have

the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless

furnace of this world. To make injustice the only 

measure of our attention is to praise the Devil.”

Jack Gilbert

In the article How Having Fun Makes You Healthier And Smarter, Outside magazine makes an argument for prioritizing fun citing research that shows playful adults live happier, more satisfying, and healthier lives. As if that weren’t enough, studies have shown that the more you laugh, the longer you’ll live. 

Joy and fun, like every way of being, is a practice.

It takes time, intention, and other resources to cultivate and maintain.

Did you know humor can ­reduce stress-related hormones that suppress the immune system? Outside magazine’s article also shares that when we have fun “the body releases the feel-good neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin, which leads to elevated mood and a healthier cell-proliferation process. Hormonal balance is crucial for our immune system’s strength and our ability to recover after strenuous athletic activity, as is cell growth, which helps the kidneys, lungs, and other organs regulate body functions. Meanwhile, some studies suggest that serotonin released by enjoyable activities could help promote neurogenesis, or cell growth in the brain.”

So, what brings you joy? Joy and fun, like every way of being, is a practice. It takes time, intention, and other resources to cultivate and maintain. It’s not something that we can phone in or squeeze into our schedules. It starts with a choice and choosing over and over again. We look for joyful moments big and small every day. Talk about it and share it with loved ones.  We’re honest with ourselves about what we want and choose to embrace the desires of our hearts. Then, we create time and space to plan the bigger joyful experiences. Chunking down the bigger pursuits into manageable steps. Even the act of clearing space for big acts of joy and making a baby step towards them is life-changing.

One small step at a time, one choice at a time we begin to see joy show up in our lives and become an indelible part of who we are. 

Family, pet, branding, and boudoir photo experiences are one way our clients choose joy. They celebrate the love of family (furry or human), their own personal strength and resilience through their boudoir experience, or the joy of their career achievements and goals through branding and headshot photography.  

The post The Importance of Joy and Fun In Life appeared first on Lux Summit Studio.

Bringing intention into our daily lives

Recently we’ve been talking about what it means to Live Life Lux – the official motto of Lux Summit studio. In our previous blog, we discussed bringing intention into our lives daily in order to fuel our purpose and fulfillment. It can be as simple as going for a walk or it can be as bold as a boudoir photo session. There is a magic that happens when we open up and create space to experience something new, no matter how big or small that experience is. You see yourself and the world around you in new ways and come to realize truths you never knew were there. That’s the power of intention. 

Meet a few of our inside-out beautiful clients (Lux Summit Studio, Philadelphia photographers) who share their intentions behind their boudoir photo session and what happened when they showed up for themselves with purpose and passion. 

“Seeing photos of myself looking beautiful, graceful, powerful and sexy every day reminds me that I truly am all of those things. This is especially important on the days that I feel unattractive or when I don’t have much confidence.”

Alexis

Alexis’ experience

Alexis’ intention behind her boudoir experience was to see her body differently. She shared, “I have always struggled with body image issues, and this gave me an opportunity to feel confident regardless of the flaws I perceived in myself.” Alexis gained just that from her boudoir session. She says, “Seeing photos of myself looking beautiful, graceful, powerful, and sexy every day reminds me that I truly am all of those things. This is especially important on the days that I feel unattractive or when I don’t have much confidence.”

“I feel more confident when I think about this experience because if I can shoot boudoir I can do anything.”

Colleen

Colleen’s confidence

For Colleen, her experience was all about confidence. “I feel more confident when I think about this experience because if I can shoot boudoir I can do anything.” Like so many of us, Colleen felt like she lost touch with herself, and like so many who have had a boudoir experience, she was reminded of who she really is. “[The gift of this experience was] confidence in myself. I felt like I lost myself for a few years and after this experience I feel like I’m the same person I was back when I danced in high school, just older and wiser.” 

“Boudoir isn’t just for women. Boudoir is for everyone.”

Elliot

Elliot’s gift

Elliot wanted to stop time for a moment, be present and immortalize where he is right now. He was able to connect more fully with himself and create space and time to give himself the consideration he deserves. For him the gift of boudoir was reflection. 

“When I was describing this to my husband he said that I was finally seeing myself the way he sees me!”

Kerri

Kerri’s takeaway

Oftentimes, when we arrive with our intention, the universe has even bigger plans for us than we could’ve imagined. Kerri booked her session with the intention of celebrating her birthday and giving her husband an unforgettable gift. He was elated. Yet, the magic that showed up for her was a huge confidence boost. She says, “It was surreal in the best way seeing my own photos! I couldn’t believe it was me! Also when I was describing this to my husband he said that I was finally seeing myself the way he sees me!”. A big takeaway from her experience was a newfound knowledge that she could try new things and enjoy being out of her comfort zone. 

Connect with yourself

Boudoir can simply be a fun way to celebrate a moment in your life, but it can also be a transformative way to connect with your sense of purpose. It can lend a new perspective on yourself or the world around you and who couldn’t do with a little more of that in their life?

The post Why Boudoir Photography? Observations from a Philadelphia Photographer appeared first on Lux Summit Studio.