Building Connections Through Photography and Adversity

Recently, as I have done a few times since Stage IV metastatic breast cancer (MBC) entered my life in 2017, I sat down with Janelle Sea of Uplifted Lens to talk about what it means to build a life inside the realities of MBC. These conversations are never simple. They require opening doors that are often easier to leave closed. And yet, from the moment we began, it felt less like an interview and more like a genuine exchange between two people interested in the stories that shape us.

Janelle has a rare gift for seeing people—not just through the lens of her camera, but through the lens of her curiosity and compassion. Many local families already know her for her beautiful photography. She recently captured our annual Mother’s Day photos, preserving fleeting moments that otherwise might have slipped quietly into memory. If you’re in the Orlando area, I cannot recommend her highly enough.

But photography is only one part of what she creates. Through Uplifted Lens, Janelle also shines a light on people navigating hardship, loss, illness, and uncertainty—people who have found ways to transform difficult circumstances into something that serves others. She listens carefully, asks thoughtful questions, and creates space for stories that might otherwise go untold.

To be invited into that space, to have my own story included among the others, felt like both a privilege and an honor. In a world that often looks away from difficult realities, Janelle chooses to bear witness. And there is something profoundly meaningful about being seen.

Here’s the recording: