As a kid, I saw the minimization of oneself — blending in — as a virtue.
Despite being an avid photographer for the last decade, I never did self-portraits in part because of this mindset which led me to conclude that they were distasteful, too vain. Whatever that actually means 🙂.
Yesterday I decided to challenge this long-held belief when I made the spontaneous decision to take my first set of self-portraits.
At first, I assumed whatever pose felt most natural, and then eventually I experimented with different ways I could take up space in the frame by spreading my arms and legs in different directions. The images were a far cry from how I usually pose in photos — with one hand over the other and shoulders slouched.
I wanted to understand and feel on a visceral level what it meant to take up space.
Looking back, I realize it’s taken me so many years to learn that it’s okay to take up space with my voice. That I’m allowed to have a voice.
Taking self-portraits helped me reaffirm a similar mindset with my body — that it’s okay for me to be present. That I’m allowed to be where I am.
All I could think to myself after the exercise was, “I’m allowed to be here.”
The more I said that to myself, the more it occurred to me that this statement is probably one of the most important things we can reaffirm for ourselves.
No amount of insecurities, what-ifs, judgments, failures and seemingly insurmountable challenges can strip you of this basic truth.
You’re allowed to be here.
