Ok I did it! Following the beautiful posts of Maureen at Twig and Toadstool and Ariella at Childhood Magic, I thought, right, it IS time to get real. Often we just post the beautiful, edited photos of everything on our blogs and never show ourselves, the mamas in all our natural beauty… I know when someone points a camer in my direction it sends me into a state, I want to immediately hide, and hope and pray that they didn’t manage to take the shot! WHY? This is me, it is who I am, I need to learn to love myself both inside and out.
These are early morning photos of me just after waking up and getting dressed, no makeup, wrinkles, oh dear, even a few crows feet…. I will be 38 years old this year. WOW, that was fast, and what I have realised after the spiritual journeys that I have been on and will still go on, I don’t FEEL older inside, I just look older on the outside… I have learned so much from so many wonderful people and teachers, so I do feel a little wiser, but my heart will always be young. I may have the wrinkles and the odd grey hair, (a few too many for my liking:) but I do hear my internal critic less and less these days. Posting this blog post has been very freeing in a way, at first, I thought there is no way I could post this, but then I decided to just go ahead:) I am so grateful to Shakti Mama for this open expression of honesty and beauty which has been the catalyst for so many of us woman to follow in her strong footsteps.
I am so looking forward to seeing more of these amazing posts by all of you:)
Dearest Linda – I see a playful smile toying at your lips in the second shot ~ when you looked in the mirror first thing in the morning you LIKED who you saw and she smiled back at YOU! you are beautiful and brave – so much more so that me! much love to you…
Good morning Linda,
It’s sad how we are so much harsher on ourselves than we are on other people. I know that I won’t be the only one who tells you how truly lovely you look in your photos and yet only a few of us will be brave enough to follow suit. But you know, even if we aren’t brave enough, what you have given us by doing this, is the knowledge that almost every other women shares this feeling of insecurity about their looks and that we just need to learn to have the courage to say well, this is me!
Good for you!
Carolyne
Oh, Linda. Thank you for this open and honest discussion. I really have appreciated seeing it at both your blog and Ariella’s. I fully intend to participate sometime this week as well. To honesty!
I LOVE that this challenge has just taken off! How lovely to meet YOU!!! I had no idea who you were, (being fairly new to the blogging world, but also because this is the first picture I’ve seen of you since I started visiting here)!
You’re just gorgeous…exotic…brave!!!!
Here’s to you lovely mama…now go and LOVE that girl in the photo!!!
(she deserves it!)
xo maureen
Oh sweet Linda!! I love these photos. Real, beautiful, free!! You are a goddess— you carry such a spiritual and down-to-earth energy, your face full of beauty and kindness. Thanks for being brave and stepping out with us, nice to meet you my friend!!!!
there you are!! so wonderful to see your beautiful face. i know what you mean about this experience being freeing. i did not think i could do it either. then i just did and i have gotten more comments than any other posts! we all want to free ourselves, really. good for you for being so brave! 🙂
You are so beautiful, brave, and soulful. And such beautiful kind eyes! I love the dialogue that this challenge has opened up, the self-examination. Your honesty is inspiring. It’s a pleasure to meet YOU 🙂
I’m really loving how beautiful all of the participants of this challenge truly are! It’s so nice to see everyone! You’re beautiful, btw. An absolutely beautiful mamagoddess!
This is so wonderful, sharing who we are on the blog – it kind of seems to build a stronger connection to one another.
Thanks and warm wishes, Tonya
What beautiful photos of you Linda! :0)
Reading your post and the other posts have me in tears.
I feel a lot like most of you and it became clear when I read the words, that that’s me too.
Almost no pictures of myself exist. I take all the family pictures and hide behind the camera.
I don’t want people to take my picture and if I see myself on pictures taken by others I horrified and embarrassed.
There are maybe one or two pictures that I like of myself, but that’s it.
I have struggled all my life with self acceptance and the feeling of not being good enough in what I do and can analyze it all very well , just can’t change it. No matter how many people tell you that you look good and what great things you do, it doesn’t matter if YOU can’t believe it and honestly tell yourself the same.
I guess it get’s a bit easier the older I get, maybe I just resign to the fact…
I’m not sure that I’m ready to join the challenge, but it makes me think a lot about how I see myself, what is mostly negative if I do at all. I think I try hard to avoid to deal with it.
Maybe it’s time to make a change and get to work on this..
Thank you Linda for your post and braveness!
You really touched me!
You’re beautiful. I know exactly what you mean about having aged on the outside but still feel young on the inside. I think your post is brave and thank you for it.
Beautiful!! You have lovely hair and such an honest looking face. Thanks for sharing. It is sad that we don’t see in ourselves what others can see.
It’s true we do to tend to shy away from the camera. I recently did the unravelling course from Suzanne Conway and since then I have been a new person and suddenly quite happy to be both sides of the camera. Take a look at my blog to see me at the village carnival riding on the carousel. No way would I have done that a few months ago.
Happy weekend
You are a sweetie, cheers Marie
Linda, you’re a beautiful woman! Not long ago, I – too – posted a picture of myself on my blog. Took so much courage! Why do we have this self-doubt that we’re – somehow- not good enough?? 38 is young – you are still a young woman. I am 55 – truly middle-aged, or past middle-aged. Scary thought!
What a beautiful heartfelt post, it is such a joy to truly see some of all these beautiful mamas out there.
Thank you for sharing..
Warmly,
Christina
I’ll post one tomorrow. Today’s church, so I have my weekly make-up on. But I have to laugh – all you mamas – so OLD, in your THIRTIES. I get to post a raw shot of myself at 58. I could be mama to the lot of you. I’m between hair perms (do NOT grimace – it’s not green, but my hair did NOT come out its true self when I was born, and NEEDS to be crazy curly – honest), and twenty pounds heavier than makes me happy. But I will do this because you say to, Linda-by-lovely. And we’ll see what happens to the computer screens of those who look.
Linda,
You my dear friend area absolutely beautiful both inside and out. You are so right about loving not only the inside, but the outside as well. I feel so many of us can relate to that statement and I love the honesty of it. If only we can start to see ourselves as others see us! That’s definitely something I need to work towards!! Thank you for sharing this hon!
Oh Linda! I would be brave too if I looked as beautiful as you in my natural state! I do have to say amen to everything you said. I was nodding my head through the whole post thinking, “Yeah! Me too! Exactly!!”
Before I cut my hair I would have been brave enough to post the ‘natural’ thing. Now with my short naturally messy thinks it is always Monday hair……oh my! If I get terrified looking in the mirror every morning, think how all of you would feel if you had to see it!! 😀
Seriously, you are a beautiful woman. I truly mean it.
Dear Linda, You completely inspired me. I got a quick look at your post Saturday morning, grabbed my camera right away and just started taking pictures. Thank you beautiful friend!
Those are great pictures, especially if you just got up! I always have such a hard time taking pictures of myself in the mirror.
To all the wonderful, beautiful women who have stopped by here and left such heartfelt words of kindness and love, I thank you… you are all my inspiration.
Love
Linda
Yay Linda!!!
So good to see you as you see you.
Simply beautiful you are!
Namaste, Nicole
Love it when mamas get REAL! You are 38 years YOUNG and Beautiful. The wrinkles, crows feet and little gray hairs are just signs that you have lived a wild, wonderful and exciting 38 years!
It is nice to see the lovely lady who runs this lovely blog! I can see honesty, humor, warmth and a lack of pretentiousness in your face. Those are very attractive attributes in a face, wouldn’t you agree?
Lovely–thanks for joining the challenge. I have been enjoying getting to “know” my favorite bloggers better!
SO fun! I loved reading every bit about what you wrote. Completely inspiring and absolutely beautiful as well. Right now I feel an energy in the air that is really forcing many of us here on Earth to accept who we are and find that voice of strength and self assurance within.
:)Lisa