A helping hand

Vogue Italia approved this morning! Whoop whoop!

I caption this: A helping hand

I remember when I took this photo I felt a sense of helplessness as I so wanted to help but couldn’t because of the social distancing rules.. And I was so touched by how gentle he was with his wife. The love and tenderness…

I instinctively reached for my camera and took this photo.

There are times that we all feel helpless. I lost my grandad a few months ago and a few weeks ago my grandma had a double stroke which has left her bedridden. And throughout this time I have felt so helpless not being there. The ups and downs of it. Or even being there for my mom… it’s had a massive impact on me.

There are moments that remind us about that helping hand. Recently someone enquired how I am and I told them that I was feeling a bit sad. Not even an hour later there was a handwritten card with a handpicked bunch of lavender laid at my front door! I was so touched by such a beautiful gesture. And so if I allow my mind to wander there are countless moments like that I can recall. Friends checking in. Someone feeling inspired by one of my photos and then creating a beautifully framed painting from it especially for me. So many beautiful examples. Kindness showed in the most amazing ways. Too many to mention.

And I don’t mean for this post to be about me. But I guess I’m the best example for me as my life is testimonial of so much love and care. Things might not always be the way that I would like for it to be but I know that there is always a helping hand, a listening ear, words of love. Because in the end love is all we really have. All of these other things pass. I was watching a clip of a famous photographer Alexi Lubomirski and he said that his father in law told him on his deathbed (I’m paraphrasing): Don’t just be surrounded by tons of magazines around you at the end of your life but make sure that you are surrounded by loved ones and beautiful memories. And that resonated with me.

Now that things are slowly getting back to a new normality it’s easy to get so busy with the everyday things of life. But let us not forget to reach out to each other. Pick up your phone and make that call. That thing you’ve been wanting to do – do it! Be that helping hand.

Have a wonderful rest of the week All 🙂

Yours truly,

James Muller x