TheDustyRoadShop

“Take time to see the quiet miracles that seek no attention” ~ John O'Donohue

I started walking and writing to reframe and map my world when I was very small. Losing myself in the wilds of wherever I was, in those hidden pockets tucked just out of sight — climbing trees, hunting for salamanders, collecting chestnuts — and in the wilds of my imagination, too, helped me make sense of the world. I didn’t add photography to the mix until a class in high school brought me into that world just beyond — and into a space that reminded me to trust in the slow down, to the small details that caught my eye. I've spent much of my adult years happily immersed in the intersection of the educational and natural landscape, teaching creative movement and dance, designing curriculum and nature-based enrichment programs for schools and local families, homeschooling her two sons, and working as a content creator, writer, educational consultant, and tutor. After a breast cancer diagnosis hit in 2008, I returned to the things that had sustained me as a child — walking long miles, communing with the natural world, taking photographs, and writing about my experience (in her Flip Side of Forty blog). Ever since, the world has shimmered with a new kind of beauty and urgency.

I published Here. In the Undertow of Wonder in early 2020, the first of what I hope will be a happy stack of books of her writing and photographs. When not walking the dusty road, dancing, or taking in live music, I run FlipSwitch Coaching, working with college-bound students and small businesses to help them unearth their stories and discover their most authentic selves — and to start to think like a camera. It is the how we see the world — and how we make those small details our own — that defines us, and endows us with authenticity and beauty.

And — feeling very grateful for the way my work has been received.

“Beautiful. The book to make it all come down to the leaves, and the sky and our breathing in the now. What a gift this writer has.”

“I love all of your posts! Your beautiful writing and photography — your art — cuts through all kinds of bullshit and lifts me out of the mundane busyness to lay me gently back down on earth.”

“Your words are as beautiful as your images. You help me through so many difficult days just by sharing what you see and feel.”

“The book is gorgeous, and the words are powerful. If you follow Liz on Instagram, you know the drill. If you don’t, you should.”

“Dear Liz, Your beautiful book arrived in the mail today. I've been mesmerized by it! I felt my body quieting and expanding and softening as I savored each page."

“The photos are glorious as expected and the writing is heartbreaking and magnificent. Inspiring.”