Be Your Own Beloved

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Be Your Own Beloved

Welcome! I'm Vivienne, a photographer and leader of the Be Your Own Beloved workshops, helping people see themselves with kindness through their cameras.

04/09/2026

Soaking up the evening light.

04/06/2026

It's was a pretty rough week over here so I went to see the Fawn Lilies to cheer myself up. Flowers are often the answers to filling my well and reminding myself that it's ok to offer yourself joy in a sh*tty week.

03/13/2026

As the wise Mara Glatzel shares "Real self care is responsive not prescriptive". The camera lens can be a self care practice in this way. It is a place we can walk with the question "What do I need right now?" and listen for the answers.

We're digging into this and so much more in the upcoming Beloved Self-Care class. We're going to start gathering in community tomorrow and class starts Monday! Come join us!

03/05/2026

After running Be Your Own Beloved last month I have felt my spark return and feel drawn to do another class at the end of March focused on self-care.

Selfies and self-care might be last thing on your mind right now, and believe me. I hear you. These are challenging times.

But this is exactly why I feel drawn to do this work with you right now.

Because these are challenging times. Both personally and globally, for so many.

If you’ve been with me for a while I’m sure you get it. This isn’t just about photos and this sure as heck isn’t about taking photos for social media or for the eyes of others.

It’s about you.
Witnessing yourself.
Being present with yourself.
Honouring your emotions as they emerge.

And it’s about us.
Being together as we offer ourselves this time. Feeling like we have a safe space to show up in the camera.

The practice of using the camera as a tool for self-witnessing, for self-compassion and for reconnecting yourself with the person looking back at you is deeply healing.
 I’m not saying this class will solve any of the problems of our society. Far from it. But I am saying that you will leave this experience feeling reconnected to yourself, feeling supported by community and feeling anchored to what’s important to you.

This class is low pressure. With the regular Be Your Own Beloved class we set ourselves a challenge of doing a photo each day. In this class, I will encourage you to join in for the daily photo but there is a focus on self-care so if just getting your camera out and photographing the flowers starting to emerge outside your door feels more doable, that will be welcome too. The practice of making that space for yourself each day is the most important piece, the photo is secondary.

If the full price is beyond your means right now, use the coupon code YOUAREWORTHY for a discount!

03/04/2026

"In a world that feels heavy more often than not, choosing whimsy is an act of rebellion. Joy doesn't mean you're unaware. It means you're still alive to wonder." —

03/03/2026

Be Your Own Beloved finished up yesterday and I went out on a photo walk for our last prompt and picked up the camera with the light flowing in, filled with gratitude for this session. There was some really beautiful connecting in the group and it was so powerful to see the shifts happening for folks. It renewed my commitment to this work and to these practices. So much gratitude. ❤️

01/31/2026

The Be Your Own Beloved E-Course starts tomorrow! Come join me for this journey to explore selfies as a tool for self-compassion and body acceptance. No fancy gear or photo experience necessary (smartphones are totally welcome). We're gathering in our community space already and will welcome you with open arms! Get all the details via my profile!

01/26/2026

Going back to the same spot and the same time has been so therapeutic for me. Each time I feel less pressured to take any specific photo and more drawn to just play in the golden light. But this time, after such a heavy week end taking in news of what's going on in the US, I just stood there in the light for a while. I realized then that I had unintentionally tucked my daughter's snuggly cat into my jacket, just like she does so she can have her hands free. If you know Z you'd know how much comfort that cat gives her and today I welcomed in that comfort for myself.

When we disconnect the idea of taking photos for social media or the external viewer it makes room for stories like this. Things that may not hold meaning for others but do for you. And yours is worthy of being heard. Worthy of being told.

01/21/2026

Feels like first time in a looooong time...I might be finding my spark again.

01/18/2026

I’ve been loving seeing this flashback to 2016 thing. Often with these trends there tends to feel like there’s a self-comparison edge to it but it hasn’t felt like that. Maybe because we’re getting older and the difference between decades is less dramatic.

I’m going to post one soon too and the other day I went through all my old photos from 2016 which was a pretty pivotal year of change for me. But I also know that the type of imagery we absorb around us and take in affects our self-perception.

So if next time you see a photo of yourself, if you expect to see the 2016 version of yourself, don’t be surprised. We often have past versions of ourselves that our brain defines as “What I look like” that are not accurate to what we presently look like.

So while it was good to visit Vivienne of 2016, I knew that my brain also needed to soak in some of Vivienne of 2026 as there is a lot that is different and new these days. My hair is constantly dancing towards grey, wrinkles emerging, I now wear progressives. Hello late 40's.

It made me think of Vivienne of 2036 and that I want to make sure she has photos of me to look back on (as who the heck knows where we’ll be imagery wise with how AI is now).  
So I went out on a walk in the morning sunshine, letting it surround me like a halo and light up my greys. Let myself meet my present self with presence and curiosity.

If meeting YOUR present self with presence and curiosity is something you could use practice in too, come join me for Be Your Own Beloved this February! We start soon!

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Vancouver, BC

Website

http://www.beyourownbeloved.com/

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