On a normal day, I'm pretty happy with pictures of myself. Most of my pictures involve me and someone. Anyone.
Me and my family.
Me and my partner.
Me and my friends.
Me and Marry Poppins. And my friend.
Me and Santa.
Even me and a statue.
Actually, taking pictures with statues/sculptures is my weakness.
But I've never been able to nail the "by myself" photo. Something happens when it's just me and a camera. Sort of like Chandler.
Unfortunately for me (but also fortunately), the time came when I needed an actual, real picture of me, not posing with anyone, just being totally normal.
You see, I wrote a book. (Several books actually, but that's another story.) And I love this book. And I want to see it published--not because I want to be published, but because I believe in this story, and I think it's important.
It's about Everly, a girl whose life is defined by the people--especially the men--around her. She simply doesn't know how to be alone.
And because I believe in this book, because I want it to reach people one day, I decided it was time to update my websites, especially my author website. Designing the website layout and text was the easy part... the hard part came when I tried to fill it with pictures.
As I struggle to find pictures of myself alone, I can't help but think of Everly. My pictures tell a story--the story of a happy, adult woman, with a beautiful family, amazing friends, and personality (hence the statutes). You can see it in all of the stuff I surround myself with. You can see that I'm not alone.
When you're alone in a picture, there's nothing to distract the observer. There's no life, personality, people to hide behind. It's all up to you to tell your story with your photo. And that's really scary.
But of course, we all must stop hiding one day. And today is my day.
By the way, I should mention that I do have amazingly talented friends. My friends are authors, coders, artists, and most importantly for this post, photographers. I called my photographer friend, Claudia Rivera, and she pulled through like the amazing photographer she is. So, thank you, Claudia, for showing me that I can still be myself, even when I'm alone.