Braveheart Boukje

The following was written on a card:

Empathetic Superpower. You go for nothing less than gold every single day. What makes you so magical is your ability to empower others in an instant. Quiet strength. Valuable wherever you are!

-xxx-

A touching encounter

A stranger, this woman dressed entirely in red with a huge bow around her waist, wrote these words to me. She read them aloud, and then it happened.

These words touched me. Not because they might be true, but because this woman didn’t know me at all! How is it possible for someone who has only observed my presence for about five minutes to write such fitting words? Was she tuned into my energy frequency? Did she let her intuition flow through her pen? That’s what I call magic.

I stood there, quietly listening as she read them aloud, and I let the words sink in. We looked at each other. I asked her name (Aretha). And I asked if I could give her a hug as a thank you.

She said yes. She received my hug, and then there was a moment of silence. I felt my eyes get slightly wet , I was emotionally touched by an angel. What a compliment can do!

Empowering Women with L'Oréal

My daughters witnessed this scene because my eldest had dragged me to the ‘Women Empowerment’ event by L’Oréal in Rotterdam. The ladies of L’Oréal had us write affirmations about ourselves on a large mirror wall with lipstick, called the Wall of Worth. This initiative encourages women to recognise and celebrate their self-worth by engaging in self-affirmation activities. We also received a lipstick as a gift (a good marketing stunt), ensuring we wouldn’t forget the L’Oréal brand. Aretha, with her big red bow, was a special compliment-giver to make it even more special.? (Compliment-givers can be hired at a Dutch company Complimentenmakers.)

This extraordinary event remains etched in my mind because of its special impact on me. THANK YOU to all those people who devised such a magical marketing experience.

Capturing Empathy as a gift

I want to give my clients (families of a lost one)? a similarly valuable experience as a farewell photographer. The emotion comes when they look at the photos. They see moments filled with loved ones around them. The love they have for someone (who has passed away) doesn’t go away, even though saying goodbye feels almost like it does. The photos I take of people and their special farewell moments make them feel truly seen. That’s exactly what we need as human beings - to be seen for who we are and what we do. More so in the saddest and darkest times of our lives, I think.

I also help photographers understand which photos touch empathy and why those empathetic photos are so important. Anyone can take a picture. And as a photographer, you might have mastered the technique. But capturing the emotion, including the whole story, is on a completely different level. Not every photographer can do that.

With Farewell Focus, I started bringing photographers together in the free community Free Birds. We’re still in the startup phase. For those who want to know more, I invite you to join a Zoom meeting. That’s where real connections are made, and where you are seen. Yes, you deserve to be seen too!

Let me touch you with my quiet strength. My empathetic superpower. Join if you want to learn more about how farewell photography can be added to your arsenal of talents. You surely know that you too can and want to create something magical. Come along to further develop your expertise together with others in the field.

Sign up today and have a wonderful day!

Boukje Canaan

P.S. In the community of Farewell Focus I will be sharing about the possibilities and use of marketing elements used to capture the attention of your (future) clients, as I loved the way L'Oréal did it. They incorporated 8 elements in this branding strategy. Like to know more? Then join... Farewell Focus