Photo taken by contributor Leya, a single mother working in the mental health field. She has a child with multiple barriers, including severe anxiety, and grew up in a highly anxious household herself with a family that experienced significant historical trauma. Leya believes that the key to our collective functioning is finding ways to calm our overactive minds, and for her that is walks in nature, photography, poetry, painting, cooking, dance and yoga. She primarily deals with nature and historic sites for her subject matter, and only sites that grab her and convey a story or emotion or sheer beauty. She challenges herself to capture those moments and convey the same sensation to her audience, and hopefully heighten that experience through artistic expression.

About this photo: “This photo was taken on the Island of Hawaii. I have SAD and was feeling quite depressed after a long winter, and when I talked to my doctor, she said I should travel south for some sunlight. At first I laughed it off thinking yeah, that’s what a doctor might do with good pay…but after sleeping on it, and waking up still feeling exhausted, I went on a limb, decided to break the bank and visit Hawaii with my children. The sunshine, the colors, it was truly a dreamscape, and gave me the much needed fuel to keep going. This flower symbolizes the tropical beauty and magic that lifted my spirit.”

Find more from Leya at her blog.

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