When I was little my family went on a trip to Alberta. I was in a gift shop with my dad and I found this painting of a native woman sitting beside a river with a wolf cub. The reflection in the water was the cub, but her as a wolf instead of a woman. My dad bought me the painting and we hung it above my bed. I would look it every night and dream of being her. I told myself that one day I would live along a river and have a wolf cub of my own. The wild was all I needed, that was always my happy place. I would write down little dreams and things I wanted, and I would open up the back of the frame and keep them hidden in there. This photograph literally held my dreams of what I envisioned for my life. I never belonged in the “real” world, I still don’t…there’s nothing real about it to me anyways. 

While so many people I knew were chasing big houses and expensive cars, I wanted trees as far as my eyes could see, lakes and rivers and mountains to run around in. People always ask me if I ever get lonely out there… but is it loneliness or is it peace? Perception is everything, and I have all I need around me. If you allow yourself to be open enough, you’ll find that every tree and bird and flower have their own special little energy. When you can feel that, you won’t be lonely ever. And the only thing I chase these days, is my wolf cub running through the forest. 

When we were shooting these photos, Trina and I kept making jokes about how there was no husband, yet we’re doing a bridal shoot which was kind of funny. “Married to the wild” I said, my true love for the places that awake my soul. 

-Daniella