I like to explain our bodies to children by the example that our skin is like a bag that holds our organs and bones and will move and adjust as we use the bag and add and subtract from it and it all is natural and NORMAL. You can use a grocery bag as an example too and show how it moves as you adjust what is in it.
To lift the curtain on the tricks of the beauty propaganda machine in order to help women overcome negative body image and build self-esteem is an idea worth spreading.
It is a big thing that you are able to do. To take that step and believe in yourself enough, to know that you could start from nothing again and build it back up because when all else fails, you can land on your own.
It really is an exchange of energy. Whether you believe in science or metaphysics or religion, we know that energy can’t be created nor destroyed. There’s always an almost tangible feeling energy in the room when we’re shooting. I think that creates a shift and makes it really a transformative experience.
We exist, as a society, in a constant state of worrying about what other people think about us. We project our emotions onto others rather than reading their emotions for what they are. That’s how we get in our little emotional spirals. We assume what other people feel and what other people think rather than taking the time to empathize and actually try to feel how they feel.
It’s not like you just wake up one day and are like, “Oh, my god, I love myself. Hey,” in the most whiny voice ever that we see online. It’s, “No, today, I like myself a little bit more. Today, I looked in the mirror and I saw my eyes and not my acne. Today, I stood naked in front of the mirror for five whole minutes and didn’t cry.” I’m up to 15 minutes now that I can stand naked in front of the mirror. You want to talk about self-love? I’m a person with a business on self-love and I am still doing the work daily.
When you can learn to look in thee mirror and just see yourself without the words of your past, you can start to see your potential. And you can start to find the parts of yourself that you like. Miss V got her first taste of that during her session. As the session progressed, her confidence grew and she found a new way to really grab onto her self-love.
You need to hang your art up. When you’re having that bad day, you can walk in and be like, “Oh yeah, there she is. Yeah. There’s the woman that I’m familiar with, that I know is inside.” And it helps you reframe how you look at yourself.
Our worth is contingent on no one but ourselves.
We enter this world worthy of respect and love, and we leave this world worthy of respect and love. That includes you.