The Journey is the Destination

Yesterday I headed out on a photo walk, with that day’s Be Your Own Beloved Prompt in mind.

The activity is all about the act of going out and taking our photos is just as valuable as the end result. It’s so easy to judge our photo adventures by whether or not we get a ‘good’ photo when the actual act of taking them is such a big part of the healing process of seeing ourselves with kindness through our cameras. As cheesy as the quote is, it’s true: Life is a journey, not a destination. So I say…self-love is a journey, not a destination.

So I headed out towards my favourite photo area where there is a mix of urban and nature, train tracks and flowers, a wide open park and gardens. I’m often more drawn to the natural spaces but this time I headed to the graffiti alley in the middle of an art studio building.

And there it was, a gorgeous chair.

I almost wasn’t surprised. Because you never really know what’s around any corner. Plus, I’ve found some pretty cool things in this space before (as in a deconstructed piano that became part of a photo shoot I was doing there)! I’m assuming someone brought at chair there for a photo session anyways though I’m not sure why they left it there.

Turns out it was on of the most fun selfie photo shoots I’ve ever done. I hoped the photos were working out, but more than anything I was just having fun getting a little sassy sitting in that  fabulous chair. Sitting is not really my usual selfie taking style as I find so much freedom in moving in a  photo, so it felt fun to try to move and self-express while sitting.

A few gremlins tried to get at me. Why didn’t I bring my tripod? How was shooting from the ground going to look, not the best angle, eh? Why didn’t I bring lipstick and wear nicer shoes.

Well, for all of the above the answer was this…that the moment didn’t need to be perfect. In fact if I had of gone home to try and remedy any of those things it’s quite possible the chair would no longer be there.

That’s one of the things I love about a selfie photo shoot….we just have to go for it. Yes, someone might come by (and people did). Yes things might not be ‘perfect’ but I don’t know if perfection would have made there be such a big smile on my face in so many of these.

Yes, I ended up getting some shots I love out of this photo adventure, but that doesn’t always happen and these photos will remind me of that day I stumbled across a pink and white chair surrounded by graffiti under blue skies and how it helped me create a moment where even if it wasn’t perfect, the joy of taking the photos was truly visible in my eyes.

And I know looking at these you might be wondering…were there outtakes? Were there ones that weren’t flattering? Heck yes. Cause I’m a plus size woman taking photos in a chair, with the camera aimed from below. But that’s what’s important to remember…that there are other things we can change other than our bodies. We can stand up beside the chair (like the one above), we can find somewhere to prop our camera higher, or we can let go of the pressure to get a ‘perfect image’ and open up to seeing the joy in our eyes rather than just noticing the things that we would critique.

If I were in a different place with how I saw myself, I could have deleted the whole bunch of them but this is what I want…to be able to see photos with love even when I’m sitting down, even when I can see myself in my body fullness.

I don’t want to love just the photos of myself, I want to keep learning to love the woman in them too.  And this photo adventure did just that…helped me feel fabulous taking them and that energy ended up getting woven into the way that I see the photos too.

With love.

So next time you head out on a photo walk and have a wonderful time, remember that feeling of joy and make sure that if one photo from the adventure brings up old stories…that you don’t let it negate your joy!