The BE Project | Coralee and “Me”
Every year, The BE Project invites people into my studio to pause, reflect, and choose a word that will guide the next chapter of their lives. It is not about perfection or reinvention overnight. It is about honesty. Courage. Becoming.
When Coralee stepped in front of my camera, she surprised herself with the word she chose.
“Me.”
Not bold. Not brave. Not fierce.
Just herself.
It came from years of evolution, healing, and learning how to stop apologizing for the parts of her that have always been wired for action, generosity, creativity, and adventure.
The BE Project exists because I believe that we are all evolving and every person deserves to see themselves as art while they are becoming the person they are meant to be.
Why She Chose “Me”
Coralee explained that her children were the first ones to reflect this word back to her.
“You do you.”
Over the years, she has carried many words through different seasons, artistic, resilient, wild, us, each one part of a longer healing journey that led her here.
This year feels different.
This year is about being unapologetically herself.
She talked about how she naturally jumps in to help the people she loves, painting her child’s house without hesitation, operating at a frequency of getting things done. For a long time, she apologized for that.
Now, she is done shrinking that instinct.
“I just get to be me.”
What She Is Working Toward This Year
Coralee approaches each year with a list of dreams and adventures, usually written on her birthday and already evolving for the next chapter.
This year includes riding horses on the beach.
Two weeks in Nicaragua.
Zip lining.
Backcountry camping.
Sleeping in a hammock tent.
Saying yes to experiences she once might have overthought.
She is leaning fully into a life that feels expansive, curious, and alive.
What Grounds Her
When stress creeps in, Coralee heads for the kitchen.
She bakes.
Nothing fancy. Cookies. Chocolate cake. Something warm and comforting, even if she has to resist eating the entire batch herself.
It is her way of slowing down, breathing, and finding calm in the middle of busy days.
What She Is Learning About Herself
Coralee is realizing that she spent years underestimating how long it can take to truly become yourself.
That owning who you are is a process.
That confidence is built one unfiltered choice at a time.
She is learning that the version of her who moves quickly, loves big, helps freely, and says yes to adventure does not need editing.
She needs honoring.
Photographing “Me”
In the studio, “me” showed up as ease.
As laughter.
As someone who no longer second-guesses her presence in a room.
There was an unmistakable steadiness to Coralee, the kind that belongs to someone who has stopped performing and started inhabiting her own life.
Her portraits felt joyful. Grounded. Fully hers.
A Final Reflection
Coralee’s story is proof that sometimes the bravest word you can choose is your own name.
Your own rhythm.
Your own truth.
Sometimes the most radical thing you can do is stop apologizing for who you are.
What word would you choose for this season of your life?
What are you stepping into this year?
Get added to the waitlist for The BE Project at Beautiful Evolutions Photography in Burleson, Texas.
The BE Project is a black-and-white portrait series by Beautiful Evolutions Photography honoring growth, courage, and the beauty of becoming.
