Beginnings

I signed up for a “28-day photo adventure designed to cultivate self-reflection and self-compassion through the practice of taking self-portraits.”  The course is called Be Your Own Beloved led by Vivienne McMaster.  I thought this was just the perfect thing for me as I transition into my new life in Thailand later this month. For those of you that don’t know, I hate having my picture taken.  I am trying to be better and hopefully this will help.

Today’s prompt was about beginnings. Again – perfect. From Vivienne: “Pick up your camera and aim it at your feet and take the first step in this creative journey!”  So I took pictures of my feet today.  That is something I can handle.  She tells a beautiful story through pictures of why she takes self-portraits of her feet.

When I was reading her email this morning, it was like she was commanding me to take a picture right then and there.  So I did. And here is what I got.  A little dark but I hadn’t any coffee yet.

Then off to get dressed.  Knowing I was going to be taking pictures of my feet, I knew I had to wear cute socks and shoes.  See this journey is already making me treat myself better.  While getting dressed to take Brennan up the mountain to ski, I found these shadows from the window and I liked the way they looked.

As I was dropping of Brennan, I thought I would get a picture of my feet on some snow. Of course I find that funny since my back is still hurting from the fall on ice a few days ago.  But here it is, cute shoes and all.

Yesterday, I did nothing to my hair. Well I washed it but that is about it.  It kept growing and growing and growing throughout the day. I have A LOT of hair and I felt the weight of it all day.  Last night, I realized (with the help of Kirsten) that it was time to let it go.  So I went and got may haircut.  I couldn’t wait, it needed to happen now. New beginnings, new haircut.  They only took 5″ off and it still falls below my shoulders.  Needless weight now gone.  It feels great!

I am so excited to continue on this journey.  I already feel lighter (probably because of the hair).  I am not committing to posting everyday even though I will be taking photos everyday. I sort of have a lot going on – if you know what I mean. And I want this to be fun.   I will try to post my progress frequently though.  I will be taking all of my photos with my iPhone. I still don’t know how to use my camera properly and besides fun, I want this to be easy.  So there you have it.  I am doing this instead of my normal photo challenge this month and I am super excited about it.  I am not sure about Vivienne’s late start policy, but check our Be Your Own Beloved if you are interested.