The First 30 Days: Face to Face with Myself

The WHAT:

Take a picture every day and post it all over the internet to desensitize myself from having to put my best face on something that isn't real, or authentic. 

The WHY:

When I began this project, all I wanted was to become more comfortable with myself--just as I am.

It was bothersome to me to see people on facebook in their cute outfits, with their best hair, and clear faces--which weren't their real faces--I am totally guilty of this.

This way, I learn to celebrate myself in all of my outfits, feelings, moods, bad hair days (rare, because I LOVE my hair unconditionally) and share this with the world.

The HOW:
Take no more than 3 photos to choose from, not spruce my surroundings or myself up too much, and take a good, fast, clear picture. If the lighting wasn't optimal, fix it with a filter. The idea was to do this fast enough, that I wouldn't have time to mull over what I looked like.

What happened?
side note: Even though this was supposed to be my own self-love journey, it was totally cool to see how people responded.

1) People told me how much they love my smile, and old friends told me thats what they remember the most about me.  Where had my smile gone, since then? Why don't I feel the need to shine light onto everything I see, everyone I meet?

2) People thought I was on a weight loss quest.  Thanks for all the support friends! But it turns out it's just hard showing your real self in a place where everyone is airbrushed, photoshopped, and posed into place! I heart you all!
Then THIS happened:

I started talking myself out of a lot of self hate by turning those feelings around, and trying to be an inspiration to others. THIS WAS SO AMAZING!!  I had no idea that I would want to share inspirational thoughts and feelings along with the photos, but that happened, and has become much bigger to me than what the photos themselves represent.

Okay, what you've all been waiting for.

The First 30.

Wear the clothing, don't let it wear you!

I love clothing. Fact.
I love fabric and color. Fact.
I don't love feeling like I have to fit into a mold.

As I move through the world, trying to appreciate clothing, I also have to take into consideration that I wear things when I feel a certain way, and don't wear things when I feel like I don't fit in them. There's that mold again. When I was younger, I used to wear the weirdest things I could find to distract people from my very visible top-half buoyancy.

 My excuse for my loud outfits was,

 "I'm just wearing all of my favorite things at once!"

I'd always be known as the friend that can pull off any outfit, which was pretty cool. It wasn't that I had the confidence to wear IT, it was that my confidence was derived from wearing a mask of clothing. I felt like I was in costume and could escape from my insecurities for a day, or even just a moment.

Phew.

SO. In an attempt to feel more comfortable in my skin, and not worry about the clothing on me, but whats inside the clothing, I am documenting my wardrobe on a day-to-day basis. I will take a picture of myself wearing whatever I put on, whether I'm a huge fan or not. This way, I won't be using digital photography to manipulate others into thinking I look fabulous all the time. I love being fabulous, but I feel like I'd rather be real these days. Maybe that will elevate my fabulous-ness in a whole new way!
 

In addition to photographing myself, I will be getting together with friends and experiment with their wardrobes and what their clothing makes them feel like.

A) Go-to favorite outfit that makes you feel like a million bucks.
B) The outfit that makes you feel super attractive, date outfit.
C) Most comfortable outfit (this one's gonna be hard, ya couch potatoes!)..(takes one to know one!)
D) All of your favorite things. All at once.

What does all of this even mean???

Let's find out why we wear what we do, and see if it makes us happy! 

What do these garments mean to us? How do they help us? How do they hinder us? What are we wearing because we have proof "works" to our advantage, and does what we want it to do?

Becca