Well, that was wild! | Spring 2020 in Review

Danielle Polini, a quarterly review and reflection. Spring 2020.

Well, we made it through the spring quarter (or something) and it’s summer 2020. Though we are only six months into it, I feel like this year has lasted FOR-EV-ER. There has been so much pain, so much loss, yet so much learned. If I were to summarize what the first half of 2020 taught me, it is how much privilege I have and how much work I need to do.

 

Exploring My Privilege

In early March, when the shelter in place order hit San Francisco, I was lucky enough to have remote salaried work that I could do from home. In late March, I again encountered my privilege when we had to decide on leaving the house we rented. We were fortunate enough to have another house in the Palm Springs area. I felt grateful, yet unsettled. I really didn’t know what to do with my feelings of guilt. While I sat in self-loathing for a bit longer than I care to admit, I eventually pulled it together to help with PPP, donate where I could, and sit on video calls with anyone I knew that was struggling.

Then again, in the last few months, the racial injustices in America have become even more apparent. Let’s be clear; I knew they were there yet I did very little about this and really have no good reason nor excuse. (Sigh, what a shitty thing to own up to.) I feel a mix of relief and frustration admitting this, but no more self-loathing and guilt. Lesson learned. Let’s move forward and do something about it.

Yes, I know, feeling relieved is a weird response. I genuinely crave deep conversations and pushing myself further, and that didn’t feel as accessible before. (Especially on issues of race and privilege.) While self-care and workout classes have been trending, deep emotional work didn’t always present itself in group form. Maybe it was a mix of everyone being so busy, or I was just naively unaware of these conversations around me. I’m happy to see that deep conversation is almost everywhere I turn now.

So it’s time to move forward into the rest of 2020. I will be opening myself up, challenging my entrenched beliefs, and taking anyone with me that wants to come on the journey. Let’s keep improving together!* The rest of this post reflects on the last 3 months of working in photography and talks about what’s to come.

 

Blog Highlights from April to June

Some positive things happened in the last few months as well. If you missed any, now is your chance to take a look. There are some freebies included, so don’t miss them!

Remote Headshot Sessions

These were an absolute blast! I had so much fun getting to know the women that were brave enough to try this out with me. They boldly took on the task of creating makeshift phone stands and adapted to my remote posing direction. You can learn my tips to light a remote headshot session or really to help you light any video chat.

Snag your guide on this blog post!

Pizza Night

I had the pleasure of hosting a remote handmade pizza making class through The Assembly. I loved sharing my pizza knowledge with you! If you missed pizza night, you can still grab my recipe

Get the pizza recipe in this post!

Shelter in Pool

I got bored, so I threw myself a pool party. It was way more fun than I expected. If you are feeling restless too, or want to try some new cocktail recipes, this is the blog post for you!

Get inspired here.
Grab cocktail recipes here.

 

 

Looking Forward to the Summer

Geez, that was a lot! I can’t believe all this happened in a few months. And oops, I forgot that I also launched this website in April with the help of Marisa at Quil & Co. So what’s to come you ask?

In summer 2020 you can expect the following from me:

Branding freebies & guides.

I want to help you speak to your ideal audience, on both social media and your website.

Deep conversations.

Let’s dig deep and have conversations that challenge us. I want to hear your stories! If you would like to be featured and involved, send me a DM or email.

Pizza!

I’ll add another recipe and maybe even invite all of you to a (remote) pizza night.

 

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*If you are curious about what specific actions I have taken or are looking for resources. I have a long list still to get through, but this is as far as I’ve gotten. By all means, let me know your suggestions too.

Reading:
White Fragility
Race Talk and the Conspiracy of Silence
Diversity Index – The Alarming Truth about in Corporate America

Watching:
13th – Netflix
Under our Skin

Discussing:
My friend is hosting a salon for open discussions and explorations on race and white privilege. Please email me if you would like to join.