TARA PARDO — THE CONFETTI PROJECT

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I started off the year in the darkest place of my life - a newly single mum after my 18 year relationship ended unexpectedly. I was 17 when we met, just a child. I’m learning who I am now as an adult in a world completely foreign to me and I’m loving who I am.

I live for my 2 children (Archie and Willow) but I am also living for myself too. I’m trying lots of new things including a Krav Maga training program. I took my first child free holiday to NYC, it was the first time I flew long distance on my own. And just last week I became the proud owner of a puppy (but don’t tell the kids it’s a surprise). I’ve learned how resilient I am after experiencing something I never dreamed imaginable and I’m so proud of the strength I’ve shown in getting my life back together and protecting my kids from the fall out. I always knew I was a strong person but I never gave myself credit for just how strong I actually am.

I wanted to participate in a confetti shoot because it’s time to celebrate ME and all the great things I am. It was only a few months ago that I was made to believe that I was to blame for how my life turned out but with time, love and a lot of self care, I know now how untrue that is. I’m a kick arse chick with a lot to offer the world! The words that keep coming to my head are bold, brave and beautiful. That's become my motto. I feel bold. I feel brave. I'm trying to feel beautiful again.

The whole reason for my trip to NYC was to spoil myself and give something to me, which I haven't truly done since having children. When you are a Mum your world rotates around these little human beings and you never put yourself first. In the end, that was a big part of why my marriage ended. But as I’ve endured what has happened I have learned that if I'm happy and living life, the kids will thrive. It’s important to me that they see me that way. In the beginning I was faking it whereas now I'm at the point where it’s not an act anymore. I am happy again and I can’t wait to see what the future holds! #confettiyoself

That feeling when you open a buttery avocado at the perfect moment. Or, the train arrives exactly as you descend onto the platform. When you forget a word to find it in your next conversation. Hints. Synchronicities. Connections. You’re always one blink away from relaxing into the present moment where all of those tiny victories can find you. #confettiyoself

The pre-requisite for spending time with any person is that they nourish and inspire you. They feed your flame. Look at your last five text messages. Are those people feeding your flames or dousing your fire? Now put your phone down for just a second and look to the people around you. Are those people throwing logs on your fire or are they pissing on it? The people that you spend time with are going to make or break your dreams. Everybody doesn’t deserve to be around you. You have to defend your light with you life! words via @willsmith #confettiyoself

The most effective way to do it is to do it - Amelia Earhart once uttered in the early 20th century. What's something you've always wanted to do? Or, that you've maybe held yourself back from? Before @the_confetti_project , I amassed a collection of half written-in journals filled with ideas, sketches, drawings of thoughts I had to jot down. Brainstorming outperformed the actual performing - the execution, the taking action, the reality of manifesting something that was birthed inside of my head - or, at least trying to. When I began this series, it started as a three-month photography challenge where I dared myself to photograph 50 New Yorker's in 3 months and design a coffee table book out of it. This was a goal with a very clear deadline. This was an aspiration that invented opportunities for myself. This was a quest to actualize some long term fantasies. This was also something I couldn't delay with my over-thinking. The best way I could describe those 91 days: I was on a moving train, where anyone could hop on or keep moving. All I saw was the finish line. There was a momentum that upstaged any doubt or worry. As a result, it was the first thing I ever finished. But more importantly, I learned firsthand that I could - and deserve - to go after anything I want because when you finish something for the first time, it is contagious. So you raise bar. Apply it to different facets of your life. And little by little as you keep doing that, your entire life becomes limitless. Where now - my challenge is to get a publishing deal with my biggest project yet: a 338-page memoir celebrating life + death. I'm scared and it's vulnerable but, when you believe in yourself, you don't let your fear dictate your actions. Are you in need of shaking up your routine? Embracing a new perspective? Doing something that terrifyingly exciting? And if so, what would it be? P.S. Amelia Earhart - the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic whose disappearance is one of the biggest mysteries of the 20th century, is being re-examined with new robot technology to find her plane! Random but blowing my mind rn💥 #confettiyoself

My wish for you this weekend is to expand your capacity for joy to every part of yourself. To believe in the range of possibility in any moment. To trust in the vulnerability of being seen. Maybe lean into something you’ve been avoiding, gently and with copious amounts of self-kindness. You are blessed. You are not the sum of your mistakes. And I believe in you, always. Happy Friday beautiful humans💫 #confettiyoself

Ever since I could remember, I have been magnetized with the power of documentation. As a child, I had an "autograph book" that I made every guest at my parent's house sign. In high school, I would vision board what my fantasy world was with my most recent celebrity crush, inspirational quotes and lustrous corners of the world I couldn't believe existed. In college, my roommate and I would make every person that walked into our apartment dip their hands in paint to make an impression on a wall with their signature. Now, I immortalize moments with my camera - which is an unexpected bi-product of this as I learned photography when starting this series. With a background in Psychology and Design, I felt confident connecting deeper with strangers because that's what I've always done. I knew how to create an aesthetic, design a website and curate color because I purposely went to design school to be a selfish designer for myself. Photography is what I’ve learned most along the way as it just happens to be the way that this is documented - where someone like you can have the opportunity to discover it. Every single photograph that you see is a frozen moment in time. A relic that the subject can look back on. A memento of a specific juncture in a life. Sometimes I envision how generations and generations after us can look back at this storytelling to really feel what it was like to be a human at this point in history. Needless to say, I take my role as a visual storyteller very seriously. It's a sacred act that I treasure, especially in the instance when a photo can be the last remnant of a life. There has been one occasion where I have been in the position of sharing photos to grieving family and friends until this week when it happened again. This is a tribue to a beautiful soul that walked into my studio with her tribe of vivacious friends a few months ago. She celebrated her recovery and her life as she dipped into the confetti with a vulnerability and playfulness that exuded a self-love that I will never forget. I celebrate you, Kathleen and all of the lives that you touched and continue to impact💛

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