When selfies stick

I am doing #365feministselfie again. I started July 1st.

I went through a full year the first time, and then stopped, and it was good. Some people missed them after I stopped, but there are ways in which it's kind of a drag having one more thing to do each day, even though it's a relatively simple task.

I first became aware of it as a thing through http://www.shakesville.com/, and the page administrator recently started doing it again, which she writes about here:

http://www.shakesville.com/2018/01/365feministselfie.html

I have not been anywhere near as visible or active as her in anything, but her post resonated because I also feel the trend toward dehumanization, and dangers that come with it. I will write more about that later. I could see the value in asserting myself again as human and real and believing in the value of humanity and reality.

Again, there is some work to it, trying to keep it interesting, though maybe it doesn't need to be interesting. If there is a day that I leave the house, I try and capture that. Animals are good. Reading a lot of different things keeps the book selfies an option.

 

 One nice change is that it took me much less time to get used to how I look. I think the first time around it took about three months before I was okay with looking the way I do. This time it only took about a week.

There were also surprises, like seeing how much happier I looked after getting just a couple of hours of respite time. It kind of made me feel guilty, that it would affect me so much, but it did hit home how much I need it. I think it's visible.

Recently I got another reminder as I posted an unsmiling picture and got far fewer likes and one gentle encouragement to smile. No one means any harm, and no one even caused any harm, but yeah, women are supposed to smile. We get it in public, and posting the selfies is a way of being public.

But if this is about being a full and real person, I am not always wearing a radiant smile. I am an unpaid caretaker dealing with a progressive disease and my house is in foreclosure. I am sad and worried a lot. Though I acknowledge that my ability to frequently smile is noteworthy, and that my smile is good. Good teeth. I also haven't seen a dentist in about two years, which is a concern.

I get tired, and I keep my sense of humor most of the time. but I need the freedom to be fully human: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

 (I didn't know the pillow was doing that to my nose until I saw the picture, but that happens sometimes. It's life.)

There should still always be plenty of animal pictures.

(I'll get Mavis and Lilly in some shots eventually.)