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One of my favourite moments of every day is getting to click on the #beyourownbeloved hashtag and see what new photos are up. Even between sessions (there is a class starting soon) there are lots of alumni, folks responding to prompts on my blog or newsletter or folks who just resonate with the #beyourownbeloved message sharing their self-portraits.
Its bliss to me, getting to look them in the eye and cheer them on.
The other day I decided to do a bit of an experiment and click on the general #selfie hashtag as truth be told, I’m so content in the bubble of the self-portraiture that I get to see when I check the #beyourownbeloved hashtag as well as on my Instagram feed from my peers…it inspires me to no end.
But I realized I’m not as aware as I could be about what the pop culture of self-portraits is these days. I don’t follow Kim Kardashian or Myeli Cyrus on my Instagram and have no clue what kind of selfies people, teenagers, celebrities…everyone outside of my blissful bubble of self-loving selfie takers…what do they do?
So indeed, I clicked on the hashtag #selfie on Instagram and poured through the images there. Some were definitely what I expected but lots of them amazed me, as I really feel like this culture of self-portraits isn’t all about vanity. Sure, many of them may have been taken from that place and I understand why people see self-portraiture in some cases as vanity.
Yet I didn’t want to get distracted by those and miss out on all of the people out there who are using it as a way to get to know ourselves, redefine ourselves, reclaim our relationship to what we are ‘supposed’ to look like. I saw a lot of that too.
There was one type of self-portrait that particularly intruiged me, like the one I took as an example of below. Folks taking a mirror self-portrait and looking at the phone.
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I saw this type of self-portrait so often and it honestly isn’t something that I’ve done in a long time so I gave it a try (you can’t know unless you try, right)!
It felt comfortable, it felt normal…but something was missing. Part of the experience of self-portraits that is so important to me wasn’t there. It felt a bit disconnected to me.
It was then I realized what it was that was missing, eye contact, and I remembered why it feels so important to me to make eye contact with myself in a self-portrait.
It might be looking at ourselves in the mirror, eye to eye.
Or looking at the lens of the iPhone or camera, looking the camera in the eye.
I especially love that last one as when we look at the picture, we get to look ourselves in the eyes!
Now, if you click on the hashtag #beyourownbeloved in Instagram you’ll see we make a lot of eye contact in the class…and oh my…they are my favourite prompts and there are some powerful reasons why we make so much eye contact. I’m going to keep those prompts saved for you to experience Be Your Own Beloved (the new session starts soon…and I wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise for you)!
But I wondered if you’d join me in exploring eye-contact in a self-portrait today?
Eye-contact in our self-portraits feels important to me because:
- It invites us to check in with ourselves in that moment
- It feels engaged and invites me to take a moment to really settle into my body
- It allows me to look back at these photos and look myself in the eye
Sure, there are plenty of times when I don’t make eye contact and there is nothing wrong with our photo if we don’t…but it feels like a really important piece of the puzzle in seeing ourselves with love in our photos…..being able to look back at ourselves, in the eye, with love.
Will you join me today in taking an eye-contact self-portrait?
You might:
- Take a mirror self-portrait and either look yourself in the eye or look into the lens of the camera
- If you are using a camera or iPhone that has a front facing camera, look yourself in the eye in your phone!
- Or take an arms length self-portrait with your camera or phone…just reach up and aim it back at yourself and look into the lens!
Of course, please do come share it with us if you are on Instagram or Facebook using the hashtag #beyourownbeloved