Tag / self-portrait

by Janet

Midnight Mayhem

I’m stirring up mayhem tonight, and I’ll probably kick myself for it later. My garden photographs are waiting to be sorted, and my short story still needs an ending, but I REALLY wanted to work on this portrait—so here I am—finishing up in the wee hours of the night.

Actually, the “mayhem” I’ve added is supposed to push the portrait toward the humorous side, sort of like a comic book, but I think it ended up looking more serious than fun. Anyway, there’s a story in here somewhere. I had to send a photo to the college for our virtual graduation, so I ended up with a self-portrait to play with. I don’t know… I thought it was about time I sucked it up and did a portrait of my own—for me.

Life is simply a mix of mayhem and magnolias, so embrace this gentle riot and gather flowers along the way.

kat savage
Body Image
by Janet

Body Image

It’s Day TWO and my motivation level is starting to skyrocket. I’m learning exciting things about my body type. Apparently I’m an apple? It’s really interesting to discover that “where” we store excess fat tells us something about what’s going on inside of that amazing body we live in.

Speaking of our amazing bodies, I wanted to backtrack and talk about something that I wrote in faded blues…

“I’m not dissing myself here. All I’m saying is that my ideas about me, and the me that I see in front of me… well, they aren’t a perfect match. So, this begs the question… which one is right?”

As soon as I published that post my head started spinning. It became clear to me that I was comparing what I feel like inside to what I see in the mirror (judging the book by its cover) and I was doing so based upon what I’ve been taught for decades. Maybe my reflection doesn’t measure up because my ideas on what beauty “looks like” have been shredded, warped, and twisted… by the media, by advertising, and by society.

That being said, this lifestyle change is about health, it is NOT about body shaming. I know that I don’t eat right, I know that I’m not active enough, I know that I feel sluggish most of the time, and I know that there is something going on inside of my body… something that’s telling me to PAY ATTENTION.

So… that’s what I’m doing. I’m paying attention.

Moving on now, the subtle changes that I’m aiming for in week one are my snacks. This house is full of high-calorie, no-nutritional-value snacks. And since I don’t eat regular meals most of the time, snacks are a major player around here.

WEEK ONE PLAN: I’m exchanging empty calories— cakes, cookies, potato chips, and soda (to name a few) —for fresh fruits (strawberries!), vegetables, avocados, nuts, sunflower seeds, and dark chocolate (cacoa) as needed. I’m going to take a gamble, and create some healthy smoothies that contain powdered cacoa (in lieu of those hot fudge sundaes I love so much). I’ll be sure to share the recipes whenever I hit the jackpot.

That is it! That is week one in a nutshell… no pun intended. 😉

Thank you for reading; I hope you found something of value here!

It’s time to go shopping…
—Janet

About the Featured Image: I decided to do a little art for Day Two, a mysterious black and white self-portrait. It’s as close as I’m going to get with a before picture, and I’m actually happy with the story it tells. My son took the photo for me and we both noticed that I seem lopsided. It’s possible that’s from sitting weird on the couch when I use my laptop.