January 14, 2014

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. 

6 comments:

  1. Oh, beautiful. I love the one of you hugging yourself and that last one!! Your list is amazing too. There are some things (ok, a lot of things) on there I want to accomplish as well. xo

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    1. i love when you stop by, bella. you're truth and beauty.

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  2. Love this post of yours! 52 of you was a game-changer for me, although I'd have loved to have participated more actively: as we all now, real life sometimes takes over which is a good thing in this time of technology, at least to my opinion. Despite my rather limited participation, 52 of you taught me to see myself differently, to embrace myself in a way I'd never have imagined before and -as well- to look at other people from a different angle, as selfies and portraits are a very different subject. One can learn so much about one other by having a look at how the other one depicts, portraits oneself. It was an honour to share this journey with you, Joy, and with tens and tens of other soulful ladies. Never saw your photo with the watering can before: thank you for making me smile, dear friend!

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    1. oh, elke, i'm happy to make you smile. just thinking of you makes me smile, so i'm happy to give you one back.

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  3. That sweater! The one you are wearing when you are hugging yourself. Is that the one my mother made for me lo those many years ago? Certainly looks like it. So I am giving you the hug . . . . :-)

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    1. great eye, dad! it is, indeed, the sweater grandma knitted for you. so i'm hugging myself and being hugged by you (and grandma). goodness all around.

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