DAY 01: TAKING THE FIRST STEP
WHAT ARE YOU HOPING FOR IN THE JOURNEY AHEAD THIS MONTH?
As we begin this month of opening up to seeing ourselves with kindness through our cameras, what are you hoping for?
From August 1, 2022: So, 5 times lucky? Part of me wonders if I should leave this challenge till the fall & work on other short self-portraiture workshops I’m in. But with a new semester starting, I’m thinking I might not have as much time to commit to following along & reflecting upon the daily prompts the #beyourownbeloved challenge offers. And it would be much easier to do the shorter #workshops in the fall. So, I think August will be a do or die moment for me & this challenge.
I’ve been largely absent from @Instagram for the past month. When I was online, I took to tweeting more, as opposed to being here or on Facebook. I started working on a few @Coursera & @Udemy courses on art history, mindfulness & queer studies which are going well. I have a section for each on my website where I keep copies of some notes, interesting videos & written assignments related to each of the courses. So that’s been good.
I wasn’t well physically last week: I got my monkeypox vaccination which knocked me on my ass. My arm is still sore a week later in spite of regularly taking Advil. The week before that I did a 20km walk from Acadia Beach to Wreck Beach. It was overcast for most of the walk, but got sunny enough that as I approached Wreck, where I stopped to read awhile & then swim, I got burned. Today, my chest & parts of my back are still pink & raw, flaking away, in-spite of a daily regiment of applying copious amounts of aloe vera gel, Noxeema, moisturizer, & a tea tree oil cream at different times throughout the day.
What would you love to feel in this experience? Are there certain types of selfies you hope to capture?
The mindfulness has been helpful, especially with my depression. I was supposed to return to counselling with Kwantlen, but it was going to be a new male counsellor & I totally froze up over the prospect of having to share my issues from scratch with him. That… & well, it’s a him. I know I said I’d see anyone but I just assumed I’d land with another female counsellor.
IT CAN BE POWERFUL TO GIVE VOICE TO WHAT WE'RE NERVOUS OR FEARFUL OF TOO. WHAT FEARS OR WORRIES ARE ON YOUR MIND? By giving them space to be heard and knowing that they might come up again, it can help us begin to diffuse their power over us!
I don’t know why I froze up. I slept in and when I couldn’t find my car keys, I was so frustratedly angry with myself that by the time I found them I was late, and I just broke down in tears. Embarrassed at how foolish I’ve become. I haven’t called him back since. Maybe I should this week. We’ll see.
213/365.
This was originally posted on Instagram and Flickr.
#beyourownbeloved #beyourownbeloved💖 #depressionhelp #depressionawareness #startingover #selflove #selflovejourney #selflove #dailyselfie #dailywriting #subvertedselfies #subvertedselfie #art #photography #photo #feet
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Today’s photo prompt and reflective journaling questions for today was a part of the BE YOUR OWN BELOVED photo workshop challenge which is run several times throughout the year by photographer VIVIENNE McMASTER. It’s well worth signing up for, and doing alongside other participants. Note that there’s no requirement to share your photos outside of the group. You don’t even have to share the writing reflections with the group, let alone publicly as I do. It’s a very supportive and private safe space that McMaster provides.