Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Say Cheese!

I have a couple of friends who are very opposed to having their picture taken. I used to hate having my picture taken. It was, for me, nothing more than an opportunity for me to berate my appearance, make excuses for how I looked, and degrade myself. Then I figured out that I'm pretty damn awesome. And that I look exactly the way I am supposed to look. And that the people who look at me every day, choose to do so. Then I had my first baby and my life changed. Not only did I start to feel acceptance about how I look to others, I began to realize that I'm beautiful. Because my daughter has my nose... my cheeks... my whatever... and to disparage my own appearance means I am also tearing her down. And my heart wants nothing more than to build her up. What message would I be sending her if she sees me looking in the mirror, criticizing how I look and then we go out and someone tells her she looks just like me... somewhere in her head, she's going to connect those 2 ideas. This is all stuff I've spewed out before. But I want to connect it to this idea of having your picture taken. I have a poor memory. Really poor. So by taking way too many pictures, I get to preserve all these little moments in the hopes that these pictures will spark memories for me. So to my friends... let your picture be taken. Don't worry about your makeup, your hair, your face, your clothes. The important thing is capturing the memory, capturing the moment, holding on to this little second of the feeling, the happening. I don't take pictures to capture physical beauty. I take pictures to capture a glimpse. To hold on to the way you look at my kids, the way you laugh, the way you tell a story. It isn't about how you look. It's about who you are.

7 comments:

Lynette3boys said...

I love your outlook on this. It's so true! Thanks for that much needed reminder.

Garret said...

You're so smart! You're beautiful dammit!

Joanie said...

You have such a great outlook on life! No wonder we think you're awesome! And beautiful too, inside and out!

Mary Ellen said...

What a great attitude. And what a great example for your daughter.

We're all beautiful, dammit!

Isabella said...

Ok, I'll let you take my picture...but can you get my good side? ;)

I don't mind photos...I HATED video cameras. My voice annoyed me to no end. Once my daughter was born, I realized that if I omitted myself from videos (and god forbid something happened to me), she'd never hear my voice, my laugh, my stupid-as-all-get-out jokes...and I don't want her to miss that.

Jackie E. said...

hey liz, i think this is such a great outlook to have. there are so many times when i don't like having my picture taken, especially a non-action shot, by myself. i'm cool with group photos. the perspective that you've put on things here will go a long way in helping me to just get over it. thanks.

Anonymous said...

What a great way to look at things. I don't mind pics. Sure, I get irritated every now & again with how I look but I need those memories. You never know what's going to happen.

As I get older, I find myself wanting to save more stuff from Curt & I's dating relationship, mostly so our kids can look through those things and smile.

:]