Portrait of resilience

Kimberly is a gifted and highly-skilled photographer. I met her during Occupy ICE in 2018. She has made a niche for herself as a birth photographer (link to her fascinating website), but she also does social justice photography and protest photography for free. She’s pressed for time to do political work because of her need to support a family with her partner, the father of their two children, aged 4 and 6. She has a third child, now 13,  from a former relationship. 

Covid dealt her a terrible blow. Birth photography stopped altogether. There were plenty of protests, and she documented them, but there was no money in that. Her partner had quit his job to finish university before the pandemic, thinking her income could support the family and he could enhance his earning potential. But suddenly there was no income at all. She and he both recently suffered deaths of people they loved (not from Covid, but from other painful causes). They’ve been unable to pay their rent, and when the rent moratorium ends, they fear they will be homeless. They’ve both struggled with depression, and she lost a great deal of weight, but she has found psilocybin (now legal in Oregon) helpful. I enjoyed reconnecting with her and hearing about her experience with psilocybin, as Sue and I have been listening to Michael Pollan’s latest book about psychedelics. The sense of union with the universe, of the interconnectedness of all life, is helping her to pull through this moment and whatever lies ahead.

As you can see, she is upbeat despite a desperate situation. As things open up, she has booked a couple of births, but not enough to pay back rent and also buy groceries. Her partner is currently working two jobs, so she is caring for their young children and can’t work much, but their landlord says if they manage to pay their back rent, he is going to raise their rent 30%, which will make it impossible for them to remain where they are. 

If you can live with that much uncertainty and still have a radiant, genuine smile, your resilience is off the charts. I have endless admiration for her.