Photogenic

Is that a CHALLENGE?

Jen on the Edge has challenged us to share photos of ourselves taken over the holidays. She initially gave the challenge prior to the Chanukah/ Christmas/New Year blur because so many moms are not in pictures. Some of us are hiding from the camera because of poor self-esteem and poor body image. Some of us simply fail to give up control of the camera to someone else so we can be in the picture.  Whatever the reasons, I’m thankful that she did because like many, I prefer hiding behind the camera to being in front of it. When it comes to scrapbooking family events, I discover that I am rarely in the pictures.  I never thought of this as a bad thing (obviously someone needs to take the pictures, a.k.a., I don’t want to see how fat I am) since I like taking photographs, but Jen had some valid points.

So instead of the usual hiding behind the camera action I normally prefer, I made sure I was actually in a few photos. I shared one of these last week (our requisite family Christmas Eve photograph) and below it you will see a picture of me (on the left) with my SIL.

I have five sisters-in-law, four of whom I saw during the last 2 weeks of December. Why yes, I do like being back in my home state!

I do, however, have a confession to make: one of the reasons this challenge was do-able for me is because I have lost weight in the past 5 months. I’m certainly not down to a level I wish to maintain, but I no longer look like someone who shows up in a headless shot on the evening news special about obesity. (Thank you, Jim Gaffigan, for that nudge to lose excess weight!)  I would have found this challenge much more… challenging … if I felt worse about how I currently look. And that is some food for thought.