The Elephant, The Photo Shoot and The Epiphany.

Ladies, I did something brave last week and I’m going to share it with you. I’m sharing it with you because I think it might help you like it has helped me. In the last post I sent out, I shared some thoughts about body shaming, our negative self-talk, and being brave about embracing this season of life. 

They called me cross eyed Karie

When I write about these things, I’m sharing my own struggles, misgivings and insecurities. In conversations that I have with other women, I always find a commonality. Certain things that even the bravest women I know struggle with. In most circles of friends, there’s usually someone who wants to talk about the elephant in the room. That’s always been me. Not always a good thing, but it’s a thing! I use these pages to talk about those elephants sometimes in hope that it will begin a conversation among you, help to strengthen you and above all, let you know you are not alone.  

That was eighteen. Having my photo taken has never been easy.

So here is my recent moment of braveness. A friend was visiting last week and she has a photography business. She takes some tastefully steamy pictures for ladies to give to their hubby. Her business is called “Mon Amour Photography”. We were talking about how wonderful it would be if she could market it to women in our age group. So we came up with some slogans, I agreed to be her test model and off to the beach at sunset we went. YIKES! 

I love the way this heart showed up in the surf! A special message just for me.

I wanted to share this with you because it had a real effect on me that helped me so much. You know how it is when you view pictures of yourself? You see it ALL, right? Our eyes go straight to what we see as our imperfections. Can I get an AMEN? This time, I decided not to do so much of that, but to look at myself through the lens of the slogans to go with her ad that we’d created- “Sexy Strong 60!”- “Fierce and Fabulous-This is What 60 Looks Like!” 

I looked at that girl in those photographs and thought, this is me, I am strong. I wouldn’t have made it this far if I wasn’t. This is the body that brought me this far. This body deserves my respect, my honor and my positive self talk. I’m going to be totally transparent and tell you, I cried. Ladies, we are beautiful. We have beautiful faces, curves, laugh lines, gray hair and we are all magnificent creations!

This is sixty two.

Last night in conversation with a couple of friends, one woman shared of a recent class she had taken. The instructor spoke to them about embracing their bodies, exactly as they are, right now, at whatever stage of life. I like that thought of embracing what I’ve got with gratitude. While I was writing this post, I noticed on my “Verse of the Day” app. on my phone, this verse had popped up: “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”  James 1:17 Thank you for this gift!

You are a beautiful vibrant woman. That body has brought you to this age. It’s a gorgeous body, celebrate it! Speak positively to yourself and your amazing, miraculous body. And, as always, just a reminder...YOU’RE FILLED WITH TOWANDATUDE! 

I hope you will check out Marci’s accounts on Facebook and Instagram @ Mon Amour Photography. Give her a call. Who knows she may be in your area soon!