It was my birthday on July 27th and my favorite way to celebrate is with cake.
My theme that day was to Eat Cake Any Chance I Got.
Which spawned a cake-themed photoshoot and a couple realizations:
You don’t have to put a hard deadline on fun.
For some reason I made up that I needed to get all these image ideas shot, processed, retouched, and posted, all in one day.
If I were one of my clients, I would’ve kindly said:
“Absolutely No.”
I was setting myself up for failure, and taking away the part where this was supposed to be FUN.
So I stopped, smelled the cupcakes, and decided my deadline was to post before Leo Szn ends.
Which is this Saturday (still time for presents *wink wink*).
That the signs of aging are signs of strength, resiliency, and a body that has said HELL YES to life (and cake).
As I saw the photos of myself pop-up on the screen, I kept zeroing in on all the areas where my body is showing the effects of time.
My slightly sagging neck, the wrinkles around my eyes, my veiny hands: I wanted to smooth everything away with the “magic” of photoshop.
But, where is the magic in erasing yourself?
What’s wrong with my neck?
It’s helping to support my head which contains a pretty sexy brain (if I do say so myself);
What’s wrong with my eye wrinkles?
Those wrinkles tell a story of a life filled with laughter, grief, joy, and years spent seeing the world around me;
What’s wrong with my hands?
My hands have carried heavy camera gear for the last 25 years, they’ve held loved ones in comfort, they’ve pet the coats of many beloved fur babies, sometimes, for the last time;
my hands have held onto lovers, rocks that I’ve climbed, they’ve wiped away tears, sewn numerous dresses, they’ve held onto my hopes and dreams.
And many slices of cake.
My hands (and face and neck and legs) tell the story of a woman who has lived 52 years in a place where aging is treated like a disease.
Instead of a delicious next chapter.
So, I decided to not retouch my body, at all.
Because this is the real me.
And this is real life.
And real life is where the true magic lives.
(and cake lives here too)
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