I was never a big fan of selfies. I would see
the same people posting them almost every day, always with the same pose – arm
stretched out over their heads off to the side, looking up at the camera, sometimes
with duck lips, sometimes with sultry eyes, always looking unnaturally natural
with their bathroom as the backdrop. Seriously, who feels that sultry in the
bathroom on a Tuesday morning?
I wondered how many selfies they took to get
that perfect, Instagram-worthy expression. It all felt like narcissistic
nonsense, and it kind of annoyed me.
But then I realized I was really just being a
hater. I rarely like photos of myself (except for my driver’s license photo). I
critique my huge nose, dark circles, unruly hair, giant pores, crooked teeth,
wrinkles, and what is up with that gnarly vein in the middle of my forehead?
And that’s just from the neck up, people. No
one is better at tearing my appearance apart than I am. So the idea of posting
a photo of just myself, especially a close up of my face? Nuh uh. No way.
So when I saw everyone else’s selfies, I was
actually just jealous. I wished I felt that pretty. Even at my most dolled up,
I didn’t have that kind of confidence in my appearance. Eventually, I posted my
first selfie – a funny, self-deprecating photo on Instagram. I was sitting in the
chair at the salon, looking all alien with my hair sticking up everywhere
through layers of tin foil. It’s a really funny picture. (Want to see it? Well, you will have to check me out on Instagram then.
Oh, and as long as you’re over there, you should totally follow me. Why aren’t
you already following me on Instagram anyway? You got something against funny?)
Then in May, one of my favorite bloggers, Mommy Shorts, hosted a really cool give-away on Instagram called #RewardYourselflie,
asking mommies to post selfies with their kids and put themselves in front of
the camera for a change.
I thought the idea was brilliant (similar to
Working on a Project’s #FocusOnMom series, which I LOVE). I take a zillion
pictures of my sons everyday, but there are hardly any photos of me. Then I
started having all these morbid thoughts, like what if something terrible happens
to me, and my boys have to grow up without me? They should have photos of
themselves with their mom. They should know that I love them. (Okay, I might
cry now. Gotta stop with all that….) So every day for two weeks, I got over my
insecurities and posted a selfie with my kiddos.
And you know what? It was fun! Being silly with
my two silly boys in front of the camera was the highlight of my day. You can
see all of our selfies on Instagram, but here are a few of my favorites.
The best part of our selfie experiment was the
outtakes. OMG! Taking selfies with a three year old and a baby led to some of
the most hilarious photos. Here are a few outtakes that didn’t get posted, but
which I will still treasure forever.
So now I take selfies a little more often. I’m
still not a “selfie everyday-er,” nor will I ever be... but... even with
all of my imperfections... I exist. I don’t have to stay hidden or be ashamed
of how I look. I’m a real person, a mom who wants her boys to know how she once
was, a future grandma who wants her grandkids to look at her old pictures
someday and laugh.
That’s why I’m actually excited about the kick-off
event at BlogHer’14 on Thursday night. (PS: I’m going to BlogHer!) It will be a
#Selfiebration with bloggers from all over everywhere. So you can expect to see
a few more selfies than usual from me later this week as I make some new
friends and meet up with a couple of old ones from my last conference.
Even if you’re not going to BlogHer, or not a
blogger at all, please keep those selfies coming. I’m done hating on you, and
I’m sorry for that. I want to see you, and your kids, and your awesome hair
day, and your cat, and your BFF, and your bathroom wall, and the realness that
is you and your life. Join the #Selfiebration!
