I still cringe at the sight of myself sometimes. Photos where my face is RIGHT. THERE., are particularly tough.

I’ve slowly come to accept (and love) my flaws. Or, what I perceive to be flaws. My crazy ass hair. The bump in my nose. My sharper than sharp long jaw line. My big bottom lip. My flat chest. Yes. That.

Then you add aging to it all.

Sigh. 

We really know how to beat ourselves up, don’t we?

Stepping in front of the camera is difficult and every time I do it, I’m self conscious and uncomfortable. However, I do it as part of the learning process to learn, love and accept...me. .

I’ve come a long way. I’ve strutted on a fashion cat walk  while my insides felt like they were going to explode. And then, I did it again! (It helped, actually) Most recently, I lent myself as a “model” for a fashion boutique. I didn’t review or even ask to see the photos. 

As they slowly trickle out in the boutique’s posts, I (of course) cringe first. Then, I force to look hard at why I find it so hard. Then I read comments, DMs and reposts. I realize that what others see is so different than what I see. They see what I see in everyone else. A person. A unique individual. A beauty for being themselves. No age, color, sex, ethnicity, size...just a person. 

Sometimes we need to shift our perspective, look from a different lens and then we can realize we’ve been looking at ourselves all wrong. 

I’m growing on me. 

Check out @thinking_boutique ’s feed for some of the pics I refer to here. It was a fun day and I enjoyed pushing my comfort zone. Go visit them for some chic Spring picks! .