Photography with a Purpose

There is an old poem that states that you meet friends for a season, a reason or lifetime.  When I (Meredith) met Ashley "Ashmill" Miller, I simply thought it was a for a season.  She and I share a mutual friend and would interact here and there, but that was the extent of our friendship.  However, when I moved to Nashville she became my reliable source of information and directions around town.  Over the past year and a half she and I have become close friends and it's now evident we are friends for a reason.  Ashmill and I both share an undying passion for Africa.  We have both spent time there and are aching to return.  Ashmill has the chance to return in a few short weeks and yes, I am jealous.  She is returning to use her gift of photography and document the work of non-profits across Tanzania.

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Always Beautiful

According to a video on “Body Image Statistics” posted on Weighingthefacts.blogspot.com, a blog voted the Top Eating Disorder Blog of 2010,

• 80% of children are afraid of being fat
• more than 50% of 10 year old girls wish they were thinner
• Americans spend more than 40 billion a year on diet and beauty products
• The average American woman is 5'4" and 140 pounds
• The average American model is 5' 11" and 117 pounds
• The current media ideal of thinness is achieved by less than 5% of the female population

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What I Want for Christmas

What do you want? What do you need? Sometimes these questions have the same answer, but usually they do not.  When I was ten years old, I wanted a Brett Favre jersey even more than I wanted a Winnie the Pooh watch.  When I was 16, I wanted accessories for my car and this horribly ugly jean vest with a fur collar (WHY?).  When I was 18, I wanted an iPod (back when they weighed 4 pounds) and a new pair of vans.  Then almost a decade passed, and although deep down I still want gift cards to Anthropologie, Christmas becomes zero fun when focused on yourself.  I realized this the year I got a vacuum…

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