Category Archives: Self Portraits

March 13, 2013

Looking Ourselves in the Eye

Looking ourselves in the eyes…

It has been one of my favourite types of self-portraits for a while now. As I look into the camera it feels like it is capturing a really alive and engaged moment. Yet I also can’t help think that a future me will look in her eyes some day (just like I look at older photos like this) and remember where she was, remember what she didn’t yet know and remember what was not yet lost or gained.

In these last couple months of Be Your Own Beloved and Be Your Own Light it has been so fun to share this tool and I’ve got to say it has been one of my absolute favourite days of each course when we get to look into our own cameras and into our own eyes.

I encourage people to really take this photo for themselves, but I can’t help but notice the ways that doing this for ourselves creates connection and community.

Yesterday we did that activity for Be Your Own Light and yet again, it floored me, seeing all of those powerful lit up eyes of the participants.

It is so simple yet so powerful to look ourselves in the eyes with kindness and to see the spark in our own eyes.

I feel like it also allows us to be seen in a way that is really powerful (and yes, maybe scary at first). Being able to look someone in the eyes (yes, even ourselves) is so powerful. The photo creates a moment of connection.

With ourselves.

With one another.

Looking on Instagram (photos are tagged #beyourownlight on Instagram if you want to take a peek) and the flickr group this morning as the photos are still pouring in from yesterdays activity I am (yet again) tearing up in the cafe where I’m working. Being able to look the participants in the eye and to see all of these photos side by side is just amazing. I’m looking each participant in the eyes and send them love (even if it wasn’t in words). I somehow feel like they will receive it on the other end, cause the universe is just like that. It is filling me up with gratitude and love for the brave beautiful people who have gifted themselves with this adventure to see themselves with love.

Yes.

Because we are all worthy of that kind of connection with ourselves and the love the ripples outward and is reflected back at us when we gift ourselves with these acts of ‘showing up’ for ourselves.

{if you feel inspired to look yourselves in the eyes in a photo today, please tag it with #beyourownbeloved on Instagram

or link to it in todays comments as I’d love to see it}

March 7, 2013

In Bloom

It is beginning.

They are rising up from the ground, protective and held tight in a bud. Then like the Anais Nin quote:

And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.

And they do.

The other day was that one, where they started to bloom. First the crocuses and others will soon follow suit.

At this season I watch them closely, keeping watch for when they start to blossom. I think it can’t help but invite an unfolding in us too.

February 28, 2013

Let Your Light Shine

Evening nears and the light rays start pouring through the trees and landing on the ground.

I put on my favourite red mary janes and head outside with my camera

These light rays beckon me but I can’t come back in an hour to get this shot

This photo is all about now

It is an invitation to jump in

To practise bravery

Because in 10 minutes that light ray will have moved on.

This is the moment to decide.

Am I going to stand in the light?

So I do.

This has been a big part of my self-portrait journey since it began, seeking out beautiful light and daring myself to take a self-portrait in it. These are always my favourite selfies because light is magical and when we engage in it in this way, we get to be a part of the magic.

Be Your Own Beloved is coming to a close today and it is so bittersweet as I am deeply proud of the incredible images and heart work that have been manifested by the participants. It has been so beautiful! But #beyourownbeloved was actually the first in a series of affordable yet oh so powerful courses I have planned! The Be Your Own Courses are designed for anyone (yes, including total beginners) with any camera to explore self-portrait photography and through it dive deeper into seeing themselves with kindness through the lens.

So yes, while Be Your Own Light is about learning how to add magical light to your photos. We’ll be rockin’ the light flare, capturing those magical evening rays of light, we’ll be swooning over silhouettes in sunsets and I’ll be spilling all my favourite light tricks….I’ll even share some of the secrets of how I get magical light photos while living in a city that is grey and cloudy this season (you definitely don’t need to be in a sunny place or sunny season to take this class).

But its actually more than just light tricks:

It is also about creating space in your life to let your light shine, to not hide it.

It is about awakening your radiance.

It is about not hiding in the shadow.

It is about getting that sparkle back in your eyes.

It is about learning to let our light shine in our photos (and our lives).

Be Your Own Light starts Monday, so if you’re craving to continue (or to begin) your self-portrait journey or to get inspiration as you work through a self-portrait project, come join us for #beyourownlight. Or if you’ve been seeing those powerful #beyourownbeloved photos from your peers and craved to join in…maybe you were meant to come be a part of this class and let your light shine!

February 25, 2013

Being Your Own Friend

A photo from 2007 from the post I felt drawn to go back and send some love to.

Today in Be Your Own Beloved we’re doing an activity that feels really powerful to me and while normally I keep the content of courses private (as thats the fun of being in the class and getting each day’s secret mission in your inbox) today my intuition is telling me that it might be useful to others too. That this one needs to be shared.

Something really magical happens in these e-courses that we do in community.

We rise up and support each other.

We see the best in one another.

We listen to each others tender stories and hold space for them.

So today in class, I’m asking the participants to notice the way that they have been offering such incredible kindness towards one another and then gifting that kindness to themselves.

I often feel like taking a self-portrait can be like sending a message to our future selves. That even though sometimes we might not see our amazingness in the moment, when we look back at them we see much clearer. That we are creating these breadcrumbs on the map of our story that we can look back on and look in our own eyes.

Another way in which I feel like we can visit our past selves and give them love is of course blogging! When I think about how long I’ve been blogging (a decade) and how showing up in those posts along the way felt good in the moment, but now…all these years later…it gives me such a beautiful roadmap of how I got to today and that todays post might be meaningful to a future me.

So I have a dare for you today fellow bloggers.

Your dare is this:

Go back in your archives. 1 month, year, 2 years, 10 years…really however long you feel drawn to. Perhaps to a post that felt really vulnerable. Or maybe one that left you not feeling seen, or one that people didn’t comment on. Or maybe the post that felt like it was the point where you had a big realization or shift.

Then leave yourself a comment and gift yourself with the kindness that you would offer others. Tell her what you now know these years/months later. Tell her she’ll be okay or that you love her or that you are proud of her…whatever you feel drawn to do in the moment. Maybe you could go back to the first post you ever wrote or perhaps there will be a post that will come to mind.

Do this just for you (but if you feel drawn to share your experience of it, i’d love to know how it was….feel free to leave a comment or you could use the course hashtag #beyourownbeloved on twitter to share your experience of the activity).

Lets go gift ourselves with the kindness that we so freely offer others.

February 20, 2013

Dancing into Life

I wandered down to the beach on my own.

Camera in hand, on a beach I know well.

I’ve probably taken hundreds of pictures there before.

The tide was rising and there was no where to put down my camera, so I just settled into the feeling of feet on wet sand, sinking in.

Living in the moment.

Until there it was.

A perfect sized, dry rock was suddenly awaiting me, as though it had saved me a dry spot for my camera to rest.

A bit of respite, an invitation to take a few photos and see this place in a different light. See myself in a different light.

So I put it on the ground and just went for it on this busy beach. Just danced in the moment.

Of all the photos I took this weekend away on the Oregon Coast with an incredible collection of compassionate, open hearted creatives, it is this one that I feel is the one I needed to take. That I need to look at.

To remind me of the feeling of dancing into my own life, armed with a heart full of hopefulness.