I recently learned of the passing of a friend with whom I had attended school - both middle and high school. And we were in some of the same extracurricular activities. We reconnected, on a fairly surface level, at a couple of our high school reunions. Suffice it to say, we had not stayed in touch other than when circumstances caused our lives to cross. When I learned about her passing and that her Celebration of Life service was scheduled in a few days and not far from me, I decided I should attend.
It was a beautiful service and many wonderful stories were shared about her. One of the descriptions frequently used was that she always had a big smile for everyone. At the close of her service, the video of photos from her life was replayed once more so everyone would have a chance to view it. I thought to myself, wow, how wonderful not only that they had a great collection of pictures of her, but that she was enjoying life and embraced having the pictures made rather than thinking about what she was looking like in them! She did indeed have a big, bright smile in every photo and the vast majority of the photos were either candid photos or when they caught her having a great time with family and friends and she allowed the photos to be taken. It was then that it hit me, "How many times do I shy away from having my picture taken and am self-conscious about what I think I will look like in them?" Sound familiar?
These thoughts linked with a recent conversation I had with another woman. She has a booth as do I in a nearby Painted Tree Boutique. Her daughter was with her and at some point the conversation turned to family photos. The woman very quickly and emphatically said, "Oh, I don't like to get my picture taken. I rarely if ever get pictures of myself" and added, "I'm always the one taking them!" Doesn't that also sound familiar? I touched her arm and looked at her and then her daughter and asked her, "Don't you think it is important to your daughters to have pictures of you, and don't you think they would love to have a picture of you, and them with you, both for now and in the future?" She was pretty adamant, but I hope that our conversation will circle back in her mind and she will change her perspective on how important it is to be in photos, not for us, but for those who will want to remember us.
Ladies (and likely a few gents as well) join with me in shifting our mindsets from shying away from being in front of the camera and thinking about the things we don't like about the way we look, or thinking we will wait until we've lost weight or whatever and hiding behind it, to remembering that we need to leave a legacy and memories for those we will someday leave behind. And this is coming from the photographer gal who literally used to run and hide as a child when someone pulled out a camera with a flash! I can do this and so can you!