Are you the kind of person whose old family photos show you ducking behind the sofa, covering your face with Granny’s cat pillow, or jumping right out of frame, only your sneakers and jeans (horizontal, up in the air) signalling that you were present?
For most of my life, I wasn’t a fan of being photographed.
Only a few years ago did I realize that who was taking the photograph and how confident I felt to appear on that picture in the first place had a lot to do with it.
Starting to take selfies every once in a while actually helped me redefine my relationship to appearing on photos – I found that if I’m framing the shot, and I select which picture I keep and what I use it for, I not only feel better about taking the picture but gives me a big self-confidence boost. (And the act of willing to press the button is even more important than the image.)
So when I hear about how “selfie culture” is destroying all things sacred and dear, I just shake my head.
When talking about taking a photograph of yourself, a lot is said about social media and “like hunting”, and very little is said about self-empowerment and confidence. Also, there’s a real added benefit to preserving your own image so you can remember yourself as you were at a certain part of your life — the importance of which is something I recently discovered as I revisited the December Daily scrapbook albums I made just a few years ago. (And of course, I am making a new one right now as well!)
So when my good friend Lana over at Brighton Digital Women asked me for a short interview about what I thought about the topic, I gave her my selfie-philosophy (or selphilosophy, if you will). You can read it over on their site here.
If you’d like to create some memories as you prepare to close off this year but others taking photos of you makes you want to run out of the building, get out your phone, or get an Instax (I love mine!), and just play around for fun. Try it out and let me know how it went. :)
Also, if you missed this year’s Christmas Planner, click here to download it. It’s 38 pages of pure holiday planning goodness. Stress release guaranteed! :)
