Category Archives: Self Portraits

February 11, 2012

14 Days of Self-Love: Day 11 ~ Vivienne

I read a post yesterday by the wonderful Elizabeth Halt and it brought me to tears.

She spoke of coming home to herself.

I have both known that feeling and felt so far away from it as well.

Coming home feels to me like those moments where compassion pushes through all the other stories of who we think we should be, why we aren’t good enough, what is wrong with us, why we think we aren’t worthy and says “You are Home my Dear”.

It is tuning out all of those other stories, seeing and trusting our own.

Some days lately I stop and look at myself in the mirror, or in a photo. That girl with the vintage glasses and the long hair looks somehow changed from the girl I knew a year ago. Some times I just smile at her and all the other voices of critique quiet and I feel proud of her and what she is making of herself, abandoning her previously low expectations for herself. She feels like home.

I don’t feel like that every day. That is just the truth. It is an ongoing process, not something that one has mastered and can sell you the secret recipe for self-love.

The way home is woven into the story of who we are, and only we can find the threads to unravel the parts of the story that no longer work for us.

It is writing new stories and telling the old ones they aren’t invited anymore.

It is listening for our own voice.

It is not needing to be anyone that we are not.

It is home.

Let’s try to find a little bit of home today my friends. I’d love to hear about moments when you felt at home in your skin, in your life path, in your relationship to self-love…

February 10, 2012

Bay Area Wanderings

In this past trip I had 2 extra days beyond our adventure to Stinson (no complaints…two days is dreamy) to spend in the east bay and the city. I so craved to put on my walking shoes and walk for hours and hours and just soak in the world around me, armed with a camera or two of course.

The first day I wandered my favourite spots in Oakland and Berkeley. College Avenue, Rockridge, Atomic Garden (beware of the Prairie Underground Hoodies there), Bittersweet, Crossroads (I always find the best thrift scores there) then had lunch with the lovely Andrea at Cafe Gratitude (oh the I am Whole Bowl, I love you).

The next day I headed into the city for a full day of wandering. My first stop was the mission, specifically Clarion Alley which is this gorgeous alley of murals. It was a quiet Tuesday and unlike all of my previous visits to the alley, I had it all to myself (it is usually busy with lots of other folks and their cameras). I had always wanted to do some self-portraits in the Alley and this seemed like the perfect time.

After the Alley I kept wandering the mission, headed over to Chinatown and North Beach (where I found another Alley of murals to take photos in) and then met my pal Valerie for a final trip dinner at the wonderful Gracias Madre.

Happy Belly, Sore Feet, Happy Heart.

February 10, 2012

14 Days of Self Love: Day 10 ~ Liz Lamoreux

As the light faded on a Wednesday evening last summer, I took a few self-portraits. I played with different angles and looks into the camera as the timer beeped. There was even a moment of laughter as I began to simply have fun. But then when I looked through the photos on the camera, I was so distracted by my arms and my tired eyes and…how the list goes on. So I put my camera straight in front of me, closed my eyes, and focused on filling my whole body with love and compassion. I took several breaths just imagining this compassion and love moving throughout my body. Then, while the timer beeped, I looked into the camera imagining I was looking at someone with only love (imagining the look my heart needed in that moment).

Later, when I looked through the photos, I noticed that my thoughts were softer. I saw beauty and a woman taking the time to just be in her life. I saw truth and realness and some wild, maybe even gorgeous, hair. And then I came to this photo and saw a woman choosing to love herself.

Interesting how all the other stuff melts away when you let love fill the cracks.

Try it.

I dare you.

Liz Lamoreux is a retreat host, teacher, author of Inner Excavation: Explore Your Self Through Photography, Poetry, and Mixed Media, and the artist behind the shop Soul Mantras and Other Stories. She believes that we heal each time we unearth our stories and share them through creativity and in community. And in this moment, she is probably singing in her studio as she listens to Paul Simon’s Graceland album and her one-year-old daughter plays with books and fabric scraps beside her, or maybe she is practicing what she teaches and they are both taking a nap.

February 1, 2012

14 Days of Self-Love: Day 1 ~ Valerie Tookes

The Self Love Cleanse

This 21 day Self Love Cleanse, inspired by Ali Edwards, is a great way to love yourself up.

Step One: Grab your camera, journal, and printer.

Step Two: Take at least one picture of yourself every day. (I am a big fan of taking tons of tons of self portraits until I get one that captures something about that day.)

Step Three: At the end of each day, choose one self portrait that gives voice to something about you that day.

Step Four: Print out that photo and put it in your journal. It can be your regular everyday journal or one chosen just for the Self Love Cleanse. Regardless of which you choose, be sure that there are enough pages for the full 21 days.

Step Five: Once your image is in your journal, grab a pen and finish the sentence:

“I love you today because….”

Here is where you get to cleanse yourself of those negative voices. Your job is to think up one thing that you love about yourself today. It can be one word, or a long run-on sentence but I encourage you to think back on your day and really embrace something amazing that you loved about yourself on that day.

Did you make it through a tough moment with grace and dignity?

Were you compassionate to a stranger?

Did you shower love on your partner?

Or skillfully avoid an argument?

How did you show up for yourself or for someone else today?

What spectacular thing has you loving you today?

As with cultivating the daily practice of writing down what you are grateful for, the first few days may prove to be a challenge but keep it up. By the middle of the second week your mind is finding things to love about you and by the end, you will be loving yourself up with joy and ease.

Step Six: (definitely my favorite) On the 21st day, after your “last” image has been added to your journal and the last “I love you because,” written, sit down and read to yourself the story of your last three weeks. Read it slowly and savor each and every good deed, warm smile and loving gesture you managed to capture on the page and take a moment to let it sink in.

The person on these pages was seen, she was held and she was loved.

Valerie Tookes is a certified holistic health and lifestyle coach and owner of HER: Holistic Health, a WHOLEHEARTED approach to wellness.

Valerie helps clients create a personalized roadmap to health and wellness that suits your unique body, lifestyle, preferences, and goals. This multi-layered approach to coaching helps you make life long changes and step into a new relationship with the beautiful woman that you see in the mirror. She can be found at www.valerietookes.com

January 20, 2012

A Few Moments

The day before had been sunny and I had grand plans of doing lots of self-portraits during the weekend on the coast. Plans rarely go as they we think they will and I hadn’t taken a single self-portrait so I headed out for a few minutes alone on the sand plain ridge above the shore.

The wind was ferocious and I let it take away my need to take self-portraits for ‘work’ and leave me with the simple craving to tell the story of this trip and have myself in a few of the photos while I was busy aiming the lens at all the people I love and the gorgeous landscape around us.

My scarf which was worn to keep me warm became a prop and I took just a few shots before the sand blowing around and risk of rain had me hiking back to the house again.

So glad I paused for those few moments. Sometimes we need to let go of the ‘grand plans’ and just take a few moments to tell the visual story that if it were words would read ‘I was here’.

Registration for You are Your Own Muse is open and class begins in February! There is still room to join us. As always, feel free to contact me if you have questions about the course.