I like the person I see in the mirror. Her beauty is in the
eye of her creator. Her face is kind and her eyes show joy. That’s what I see
most of the time; not the person I see in pictures. I don’t like the way I look in pictures. I am
not photogenic. With apologies to Tyra Banks and 231 seasons of America’s Next
Top Model, I still don’t know how to work angles or the light or make the most
of the frame. Lately it seems that everyone is snapping pictures. We’ve got Instagram,
Snap Chat, Facebook, Twitter and the list goes on. Our phones have become an
extension of our arms, and with that, so has a camera.
There have been times when I left the house thinking I
looked pretty darn good. I was having a good hair day or loved my new lip
gloss. I participated in activities that were meaningful. I spent hours
chatting and shopping with the girls, or making Thanksgiving dinner alongside
my mother, or laughing and reminiscing at the reunion, or sitting on a beach
with my husband and dog. In other words,
I was doing things that truly bring joy to my heart and soul. Then later to see the pictures, and only be
able focus on some physical characteristic that I don’t love.
Well, I’m done with that. I am going to make a bigger effort
to live in the moment and cherish the memories neither of which should be
affected by how I looked. I love taking pictures and looking back at them, but
I am no longer going to allow them to be the measure of how much the moment
meant. A picture may be with worth a thousand words, but it will never have the
same value as a cherished memory.
