Gift Yourself

This post was originally published on November 24, 2015

I have a confession.

When I look at myself in photos, I see that my nose is too long.

That my eyes are too close together, and that they always have dark circles under them, no matter how much sleep I get.

I see how I STILL struggle with acne and scars well into my 30s.

And that my belly always sticks out a little from 3 full-term pregnancies (or maybe from the amount of burritos I eat. Who knows, really.)

So, despite my ongoing goal to ignore all that and get in front of the camera once a week, I almost didn’t post this photo of myself on Facebook after our trip to Red River, New Mexico last weekend.

Almost. But I bit the bullet, gathered up my guts, and clicked “Post”.

I was overwhelmed by the many sweet comments I received, but I think my favorite was from my friend, Christine.

She wrote, “You look relaxed and happy!!!”

And you know what? I WAS!

More than that, though, I want my kids to REMEMBER me that way.

When you’re the one taking the majority of the photos in your family, it’s so easy to hide behind the camera. But I’m realizing that skipping out on photos now only leaves me – and more importantly, my kids and future grandkids – with fewer memories of me as I truly am.

So maybe I don’t love the way I look right now, but I guarantee that 30 years from now, I’ll be wowed by how young I looked and how thick my hair was. I’ll see I was NUTS for believing I had crow’s feet. More than that, though, I’ll see – and my kids will see – how I was totally, over the moon, in love with them.

This weekend, in amidst everything else you have going on, do something really special for your family and your future self – get in front of your camera.

(When you’re ready to print those photos from this weekend and have memories you can hold, check out my recommendations for print labs here.)

xoxo-

Stacey

For more from my personal projects and the importance of photography, read THIS or THAT.