Turn the Lens Around

Included in the first version of my Life Menu: take a photograph of myself everyday for a year. This wasn't about inner-exploration or art. It was about documentation. How do my features change daily? This life-menu item sat dormant. Until I found 52-of-You. Then my idea morphed: take a photograph of myself every week for a year. Not as documentation. As creativity, as self-love, as therapy, as art.

"Selfie" is Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year 2013. According to Oxford, a selfie is "a photograph one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website." It's wonderful when people put themselves in the frame--when they declare their place. But Oxford's definition of a "selfie" is pure documentation. There's no deep dive inward.

Last year, as I turned the lens on myself, I found light, depth, play, love, edges, and acceptance. Through self-portraits I uncovered new layers of myself. I faced self-judgment. I found beauty.  And ultimately I realized that I am worthy. 

Taking photographs of myself is not only therapy,  it's practice. Practice with light, composition, perspective, and expressiveness. Being my own subject (day after day) provides endless opportunity, which has improved my art. And opened my heart. And stimulated my sense of wonder.

It saddens me when people say, "self-portraits indicate self-absorption" or "self-care is selfish." If we don't water seeds of joy in ourselves, we can't fully attend to others. If we don't see the beauty in ourselves, we can't fully see beauty in others. Self-reflection (both honest and kind) is essential for a sustainable, well-lived life.

So, my friends, I encourage you to turn the lens around. If not the actual camera lens, then the lens of your loving heart. Look inward. Be honest, yet gentle. There's beauty in the most unexpected places.