I'm trying again to post this. The snarker re-sized it for me and hopefully things will go well.
I love this picture of me now. The long silky tendrils, the right smile, not too phony. I am young and pretty.
But. When I was that age, I thought I was fat and ugly. I would look in the mirror at that girl and think, "ugh, that is just sad."
I could feel the rolls of flab and fat. I could see every imperfection on my face. I totally took my legs for granted.
I can look back five years and see how cute I was, compared to now.
So what I've been doing and suggest every woman do, is don't look back, look ahead. Pretend you're an old woman looking at the young you and realize how pretty you really are, right now.
My thanks to the snarker, who is neither Kaimi nor DKL (I know because I asked and they said no, they are not), and who very nicely helped me fix this picture to fit.
8 comments:
I am too Kaimi and DKL!!!
I love that picture. It is, indeed, beautiful. I look back at pictures of myself in high school, and in my early 20s. I wish I saw then what I see now. Finally in my late 30s I am getting comfortable with my body. Are there rolls? Yes. Are there saggy breasts? Yes. Would I trade mothering and nursing? No way. This is a really strange age because I feel I am really coming into myself as an adult woman, if that makes any sense. Thank you for the nice reminder.
--Now, if you win the lottery, and just wanted to give me some cash for a tummy tuck, I wouldn't turn it down ;)
nice post Annegb. I forwarded this on to someone ...
I love the picture, Annegb -- very Mona Lisa. I had a similar "aha" moment recently looking at an old picture of myself on the beach. I felt like a whale then; now I look like one. (Self-fulfilling prophesy, perhaps?) At any rate, I tried to pass the wisdom on to my daughter . . . to no avail.
I've felt very melancholy about aging lately. The last verse of a poem by Susan Jacobson keeps coming back to me:
I now mother my mother
when I can no longer
mother my daughter
who is older than I
have ever felt myself to be.
Love the picture. Love the thoughts. Thanks.
Elizabeth, I have a rich friend, who is good for the money. She's totally down with plastic surgery.
In a sort of unhealthy way, I think. She had a face lift when she was 35 and she looked like she'd been run over by a truck. When she healed, she looked just the same to me.
I actually stole this from a previous post I made on Mormon Mommy Wars, and Olivia Newton John said it first.
Who knew she had trouble with her looks?
Tinkertyme, I love that poem. I'm going to print it and share it with my friends. So true. It's not weird to be or feel old, it's weird to see my daughter almost 20 and remember how old I thought I was. Sarah looks like a baby still.
Nicely said.
You are so pretty! And yet very approachable at the same time! The natural type of beauty that puts people at ease.
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