Say Cheese!
Last week The Today Show featured a story on School Picture Day. The story showed little kids, excited about getting their photos taken so that they can share them with grandparents, godmothers and aunts and uncles. Some of the children wore stylish suits, others wore pretty headbands and ribbons. One very enthusiastic boy wore his SpongeBob t-shirt that made him feel good about the way that he looked.
As I watched the clip I noticed a common theme, the kids were excited. They weren’t shy. They weren’t insecure. They were proud of how they looked and thanked their mothers for helping them select their wardrobes. These kids were…confident.
This segment resonated with me because today I am getting a new professional head shot taken. I shopped for hours for a new outfit. I prayed for a good hair day. I bought new concealer to cover up some of my facial imperfections. I won’t be wearing a SpongeBob shirt.
I don’t think that I am the only one who gets a little self-conscious about having my picture taken. I snap photos all the time and my friends make me promise never to post them. They look horrible. They look fat. They look stupid. These are the things I hear when my friends view photos of themselves.
What happens to us that we go from smiling proudly with a few missing teeth to being so hard on ourselves that we never want to capture special moments? What makes people go from feeling special wearing a t-shirt with our favorite cartoon character to analyzing every line or blemish on our faces?
Today, I’m going to embrace it. I’m going into my photo shoot with a smile. I might be dressed for success, but on the inside I’m wearing a Smurfette smock and I’m proud of it.