Let me confess something.
I HATE having my photo taken. Don't you just love the irony in that? I'm a portrait photographer, and I hate having my portrait taken. I used to stand proud in that, and laugh with my clients and say, "Oh, there's a reason I stand here behind the camera!".
But then I realized what a hypocrite that made me.
How can I inspire women and girls to stand confidently in front of my camera, to own their awesome, to see their beauty, when I myself could not do that with them? I was hiding behind my camera, all the while telling women and girls to stand tall, take up space, and see how beautiful they were.
Ugh. What a hypocrite.
I'm not that photographer anymore. I'm not that woman anymore. If I'm going to encourage women to celebrate their beauty, then you can bet I'm going to be doing that myself.
I still don't love having my photo taken, but I no longer believe the lies that I'm not beautiful, or worthy. The journey to self worth is a life long one, but I know I'm going in the right direction.