A Tale Of Two Asses.
Hi there! Let me introduce you to my ass! It’s the one on the left. My younger sister’s ass is on the right.
I told her all about the spontaneous ass mobbing of facebook/instagram/twitter. (check out the #fplphoto hashtag!) I told her how some people dropped trou and bared ass without a second thought. I told her how some people said they would do that, if only their ass was thinner/less dimply/shapelier/better. I told her how I wished every woman could embrace their ass exactly how it was right now.
“Wouldn’t it be hard? To embrace your own ass? It would be easier if every woman could embrace their friends ass, instead.”
My sister, she’s a smartass.
I told her that tons of women were leaving comments comparing their asses to other people’s asses, and it was stopping them from enjoying their own as much.
“Every ass is different!” I yelled quietly. “You can’t ever have someone else’s ass! All we have is what we’ve got! I mean, look at us! We’re from the same mom and dad, and our asses have always been totally different.” I asked her if we could do an impromptu ass photoshoot and she was all in. “With pants? Or without pants?!” she asked.
My sister, she’s a badass.
BOOM. Here’s her ass. It’s mighty mighty. It once almost gave Golfer a concussion when he was 2. True story. She was trying to show me how to do a mean booty shake, and he inadvertently toddled up right as her ass was in rotation and it knocked him back like an explosion. That’s how powerful it is.
BOOM. Here’s my ass. It’s mighty. It’s never almost given someone a concussion, though. But it’s still awesome! It once ran 13 miles straight! It cushions me when I sit down, and can do some amazing things with a hula hoop!
My sister and I, we used to compare our asses. I was jealous that she could fill out her jeans and have such a bounce in her walk.
She was jealous that mine could hide in clothes and be so petite.
But now, we love what we have. We’ve stopped comparing, because that only leads to malcontent and unhappiness. Plus, it’s kind of insulting to something that works it’s ass off for us. If asses had asses, that is. Anyway, we’re happy that we have healthy, joyful asses. Every ass deserves it’s own dance party, so we danced. We shook our groove things and got DOWN with our bad selves!
Can your ass dance? Can it groove? Does it help get you from place to place? Does it cushion you when you sit? Does it feel when someone slaps it for a job well done?
If so, then you have a mighty fine ass. I hope you love it. I hope you don’t try to hide it or ignore it. I hope you have dance parties for it! And…I hope you show it. Have your own ass photoshoot. Embrace what you have. It’s a part of you, and as such, it’s divine!
Asses up, bitches!
Share TweetEvery Ass Has A Story…
Asses are like fingerprints…no two are alike. You know how I know this? Because ever since issuing the challenge yesterday I’ve been innassdated with pictures of people’s backsides. I’ve been looking at asses all. day. long. Big, skinny, round, droopy, tan, white…you name it, I’ve seen it. Here’s what I like about you bitches…nowhere did I say you had to take pictures of your BARE ass, but that’s the direction everyone went with this. You sexy minx’s! Rawr!
This started out as a spontaneously silly thing, but I think it has struck a very real, deep, powerful chord of empowerment and acceptance. Body image is a real challenge for any girl/woman growing up in today’s society. Fact! You or me or even a group of us aren’t going to stop the constant stream of commercials/movies/videos/songs that reduces a woman’s worth down to what she looks like. The thing is, we don’t even have to. The key to escaping the mad clutches of a terribly insecure body image isn’t to stop the outside cultural influences (which is impossible anyway!)…it’s just to be aware of them and then to choose to STOP COMPARING OURSELVES TO ANYONE ELSE.
I lived in LA. I saw some shit, man. Some good, some not so good. You can certainly find whatever it is you’re looking for in a city like that! I went to drum circles and burlesque shows and mexican wrestling and hoop dancing groups and anything else that interested me. In all of those places there were badass women of all shapes and sizes working their bodies in amazing ways. I learned a lot about self acceptance from them. Watching burlesque dancers is a totally amazing experience, especially because none of them have a “victoria secret” body. But they celebrate what they have and wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s one thing to look at your body and see all the flaws but kinda like yourself anyway. It’s another thing altogether to look at your body and think, “this thing fucking ROCKS!”
My friend texted me a picture that her husband took of her this morning. She woke up early to sneak in an ass self portrait before anyone woke up. She didn’t know that her husband had woken up and was watching her. In fact, he took his own picture of her taking her ass picture. That’s the one she sent me. I asked if I could share it on my blog because it is fucking FIERCE, and she said OK. Then I told her that in that moment I loved her more than any other person on the planet and she replied back, “I feel the same way about myself when I look at it 
It’s such a wonderful place to be.” Thanks Christine, for stepping up to your awesome and embracing it one ass cheek at a time.
I want you to love and accept your ass right now, in whatever shape it’s in. I don’t want you to love it after another 10 pounds are lost, I don’t want you to accept it whenever you get lipo, I don’t want you to postpone enjoying having as ass for one more day longer. In the words of 50 Cent, “you a might fine woman now BACK THAT THANG UP!”
I don’t know who to credit this next image to…I found it on pinterest and can’t find the original image. If anyone knows, can you show me? I love this so much:
Your ass is internet worthy right this fucking second.
Share TweetAsses up, bitches!
I swear on a stack of freshly made BLT’s with avocado on top, I fucking love all your self portraits! I love looking through your personal history pins on pinterest.
I know, I know, looking back at the past wasn’t exactly many people’s cup of tea. Some of you have even gone so far as to *gasp* boycott this little challenge.
That’s cool. Go at your own speed. I can’t make anyone do anything, it’s just a suggestion.
But I wouldn’t be a bitch if I didn’t also point out that I have carefully and painstakingly devised each one of these challenges based on my own personal blood,sweat, tears, and experiences…and if you don’t follow along you are totally dead to me. DEAD! I want to look around and see sparkling, happy, tuned in, connected, playful, whimsical, powerful, awesome bitches in this world. This is gonna take a fucking revolution since our culture doesn’t reward sparkling, connected, playful, whimsical, powerful bitches in any form. We gotta fight the power, man! We gotta reclaim ourselves.
To do this, you have to claim all of you. You are doing that by seeing yourself in photos. You are doing that by seeing yourself in the past and present.
And you know what else, bitches who complained about this challenge? I’m taking it up a notch. Oh yes I am. This has developed a bit spontaneously, after a picture that I was planning on blogging here ended up going rogue and posting itself via instagram on my facebook page and then on the feeds of not only my friends but their friends as well. It woulnd’t have been so bad except it was a picture of my ass. Et voila:
you know, it was going to be something about how we need to love ourselves to the core…everything we are…blah blah blah blah. Instead, my ass appeared on facebook without any point of reference. And since it wasn’t supposed to be there, I had no idea until some time had gone by and I logged in again after a while. My friends friends were all like, “dude, why is your friend Tiffani’s ass all over my feed?” As you might imagine a picture of an ass gets a lot of comments from the peanut gallery which continually updates on the feed. So it literally kept showing back up like I was popping and locking it all over facebook. And then one thing led to another…
You know where this is going.
Asses up, bitches! If you feel you can share and not feel or be exploitive (like, for instance, I love that ass shot of mine. I like the statement, I like how it looks, I’m totally fine with people looking at it…) then join in. I will give you a quick tutorial, as I am now well versed in ass shots. Believe it or not, this is not unique to many fine women photographers that I know on flickr. We’ve been doing silly shit like this since 2009!
HOW TO TAKE PHOTOS OF YOUR OWN ASS: a tasteful tutorial.
*Lie down on your stomach and then face the camera backwards so that you take a shot of your ass top down. You can also do this standing up. This erases any signs of ass sag since you can’t really see any of the problem ass areas if you do it right. This is the perfect way to start out taking ass shots. ie (this is not my ass but I wish it were):
*hold your camera in one hand and swing it around back, snapping pictures the whole time. This is a crap shoot (bwahahaha no pun intended), you wont know what you’ve got until you look through the pictures.
*use your self timer. This is what I did for the picture up above. I manually focused it where I was going to stand, set it on a tripod, and then stood there while it counted down 10 seconds.
*reflection shot. You’ll have to face away from the mirror, then turn around in a saucy little pose while you take a picture. Probably having the camera turned towards the mirror will work best. Kind of like this, except focused on your ass and not your face (and if anyone jokes they can’t tell the difference in this picture, I’ll find and cut you…)
Even if you never make them visible, you owe it to yourself and to your ass to photograph it and love it. Love your ass! I don’t want to hear any talk about “but it’s so dimply” “but it’s so white” “but it’s so big” “but it’s so little” “but it’s so saggy” etc., etc. None of that! It’s a part of you, and as such, it’s simply divine.
If anyone’s ass does join mine on instagram/facebook (bwahahahahha) I will include your name twice in the drawing for every shot between now and Sunday. Think of it as extra credit or something.
At the very least, I hope you realize that I could be a real asshole (*zing!*) with these challenges and be asking you to do some down and dirty shit like an all ass flash mob on facebook. Instead, I’m all, “Let’s pin pictures onto pinterest! Wheeeeee!” I hope that gives you some perspective in time for next weeks challenge…
Happy snapping 
Past is Present.
Howdy, bitches! I’ve been watching many pinterest boards fill up with images and photos all about your lives and the things you remember from the past. As an observer, I see the events without attaching an immediate emotion or judgement…I’ve just been sitting back and watching the show. It’s everything that I’d thought and hoped it would be.
Some of you have messaged me to say that this challenge sucks and you don’t want to be a part of it. And that’s OK to. I get it. BUT. At least connect with the women who ARE doing it and watch their unfolding. Perhaps it’s less intense if you can also react to the challenge without so much emotion and personal involvement!
One reason I made this challenge is because of my own experience in reliving my past, and how freeing it was to finally deal with it instead of ignore it or run from it. I mean, there are obviously some awesomely great things that have happened to me. But as long as I hide myself away from the not so great things, then I can’t fully embrace the positives and I absolutely cannot embrace my present self.
Fact!
At the meditation retreat, I had 12 hours a day…silent…and my past played in my head like a matinee movie. I couldn’t get away if I’d wanted to. And I did! I wanted to get out of my head very badly.
The things I was remembering about what my life was like growing up were all the things I’d tried to forget. And let me just say, I came from a mom and dad who loved me a great deal. They gave me everything they had, and more. They were determined, sincere, amazing parents. They parented the best they knew how. But even with the best of intentions, sometimes other people’s best doesn’t mean our lives are perfect. So when my life movie played in my head, some things came up I’d been trying to forget. Eventually, though, I couldn’t ignore them and the only way to get through it was to watch the movie as if it weren’t my life. As if it were a story of someone else. I separated the emotion and judgement from the facts. And I let myself remember.
I remembered:
making my mom cry when I wouldn’t listen to her.
making my dad get so angry he’d turn red, talk loudly, and then spit would fly out of his mouth all over me.
being spanked and put into my room for time out.
being disciplined at school for talking too much, not sitting still long enough, running too fast, not finishing my homework.
being in trouble with my teacher for forgetting to wear part of my school uniform that I’d usually left at home (the stupid red sweater!).
my orthodontist lecturing me about wearing my head gear (yes, head gear!) to school like I should have in 7th and 8th grade.
craving the feeling of being close and intimate with my high school boyfriend, and then feeling immoral and like a sinner for liking it so much.
making my then husband upset because I wan’t good enough at cleaning/cooking.
and on and on.
I don’t know, I’ve never typed that out before. Does it seem silly? Trivial> Like, what’s so bad about that?
I uncovered a theme with all of it, though. A current runs through my life like a deep river. And I’d never put a word to it before, until I stopped to recognize it without feeling threatened by it.
Everything I remember brings one emotion up more than anything. For me, it’s shame. Shameful. Sorry. Apologetic. Ashamed.
Mom, I’m sorry I made you cry. Dad, I’m sorry I made you angry. Teachers, friends, and husband, I’m sorry I let you down. I’m so so sorry I couldn’t be better.
When I looked at it like an outside observer, I told myself what any of you would have told me…
You have nothing to be ashamed about. You have nothing to be sorry about. You don’t need to apologize for anything.
It’s not your burden to carry.
I released guilt I hadn’t known I was carrying. I stopped making myself responsible for my mothers tears, or for my fathers anger. I released the judgements of teachers about an energetic and exciteable child they knew nothing about. I stood up for the girl that was smart enough not to wear something as ridiculous as a headgear in fucking middle school. I embraced a teenage girl discovering what love was for the first time and let go of the dogma that encouraged other people to label those feelings as immoral. I stopped carrying the emotional baggage of other people’s expectations for me.
You may have a different theme in your life for dealing with the negatives…a different emotion. Anger? Hate? Greed? Fear? Desperation? Whatever it is, it will be scary. It will keep you from wanting to walk back down the way you came.
Please, don’t be afraid. Please, walk down the path. Don’t react, just observe. See yourself as the child you were, but with the adult understanding you now have. Embrace that child and help her find her way to you.
This connection is vital for the kind of life you want to live and the kind of connections you want to have with your family. In order to have whimsy and play and freedom in your life, you are going to need your inner child along to remind you how it’s done!
Please, go get her. Welcome her into your life. She’s probably carrying a heavy burden, and if you can lighten that up for her, she will lighten your life up for you.
Fact!
me at 4 and at 35. It took another couple years for us to actually meet.
Share TweetJanuary Give Away! Lenny & Eva Jewelry!
Pinterest has brought something awesome into my life, and it’s perfect to offer it as a giveaway for one of you lucky badass bitches who has jumped into the Freeplaylife challenge. I am talking about beautiful Lenny & Eva bracelets. You choose from a selection of wide or thin leather cuffs in multiple colors/washes, and then pair it up with a beautiful metal stamped quote.
I love leather cuffs AND quotes AND metal stamped jewelry, so to say that I squealed a little when I saw all three combined into one awesome wearable piece is an understatement.
They have dozens of whimsical and inspiring quotes to choose from…here’s just a few:
I love how completely customizable these are, and how relevant each quote is to the quest we’re on to find a happy place of joy and whimsy in our lives.
I chose an ocean blue leather (to honor the octopus within me, ha!) with the quote “Sometimes I’ve believed as many as 6 impossible things before breakfast” -Alice in Wonderland.
This giveaway is open this week, closing Sunday night.
HOW TO QUALIFY FOR THE GIVEAWAY!
every time you upload a self portrait onto twitter and instagram with the tag #fplphoto, I’ll put your name into a mason jar. Every time you post a photo onto the freeplaylife facebook page, I’ll put your name into a mason jar. Everytime you tweet or facebook something about how you are doing with the weekly challenge and use the tag @freeplaylife, I’ll put your name into a mason jar! At the end of this week I’ll reach in and pull out a name and that person will claim the gift.
Since this week is all about digging into your past, fun self portraits would be pictures of you taken in past years. Pictures of you as a kid. In college. But all self portraits qualify! If you are hesitant to post pictures online, I just want to point out it’s perfectly awesome to take pictures of your feet, from where you stand. No face, but still you in a picture! Just don’t forget to tag them with either #fplphoto or @freeplaylife so I can find them!
Share Tweet52 Weeks To A Freeplaylife: Week 3
Another week, another challenge! Are you ready?! The goal: creating a life for ourselves and our families in which we are playful, energized, present, engaged, joyful, and not stressed the fuck out all the time. How we’re going to get there: completing a challenge every week, one week at a time. Here’s the exciting part, bitches…as long as you keep on keeping on with this, I am going to have a super awesome give away at the end of every month. That means THIS WEEK will be the give away! I’ll have more on that tomorrow, because I’m behind a week and actually forgot this week is the end of January…I thought I had more time. heh heh. oops. Anyway, I’ll let you know more about that…pardon my dust…
Once these challenges are issued there is no stop date…the specific week lasts 7 days before we move on to another one…but please feel free to continue to work on the challenges simultaneously. Like you would eat a layered cake…just dive in! Eventually we’ll have a 52 layered emotional chocolate cake of awesome to feast on!
Some challenges you will love. Others you will hate. Some will be easy and fun, others will be emotional and hard. Send me candy and love notes when you love what you’re doing for the week. And feel free to throw a temper tantrum and push pins into a voodoo doll on the weeks that you hate what you’re doing…as long as you do it! Just humor me!
The last couple challenges have asked you to really look at yourself…what do you want and need? Are you getting that? Do people really see who you are? Do you see yourself? This week is no different. The foundations of a freeplaylife are built around you, so you need to be crystal clear about who you authentically are. This is a tall order! So let’s get digging!
This week I’d like you to:
Excavate!
Unearth!
Become your own archaeologist!
Here’s how you will do this. Using Pinterest, I want you to create a visual timeline of your life. Where did you start? And then what happened? And then what? And what was after that? How old were you when you rode a bike for the first time? Had your first kiss? Got into really big trouble? Moved to a new hometown? Traveled out of the country? Where have you been? What was your first concert? And where are you now?
This is going to be all about you, bitches! Incidentally, I named my pinterest category “It’s All About Me, Bitches!” so you can sense there’s a theme here. I’ve pinned different places I’ve lived and things I’ve done in my life. A visual diary of sorts. I’m telling you, for this week’s challenge, it IS all about you. For all the times you felt selfish, narcissistic, or put down because you focused on you instead of “others”, let this be a safe place for you to dwell with yourself and see your life through your own personal lens.
this is me with the kids, schlepping them all around Jungfraujoch in Switzerland. Happy memory!!!
As you are doing this, try and relate to things as if you were an outside observer…like a historian or biographer trying to put the pieces of your puzzle together. If you have access to old boxes full of things from your childhood, spend time going through them. Take pictures of the memorabilia and pin it to your pinterest wall or post it to twitter/instagram/facebook (using the tag #fplphoto). Some memories will be great, and will probably be easy to remember. Some memories will be difficult to relive and will be harder to bring up. In those cases, take a step back and observe it from arms length. This is just a factual timeline. We’ll deal with the emotional baggage it may bring along with it later.
Pay attention to how in control you were in each event. Were the things that happened driven by you proactively, or were they reactionary dependent on someone else? Pay attention to any themes that come up, or any emotions the run like a current through your life. Piece yourself together with new fresh eyes. Learn about yourself as if you were reading a fascinating book. After all, you are the main character in the story of your life!
HOW TO QUALIFY FOR THE GIVEAWAY!
every time you upload a self portrait onto twitter and instagram with the tag #fplphoto, I’ll put your name into a mason jar. Every time you post a photo onto the freeplaylife facebook page, I’ll put your name into a mason jar. Everytime you tweet or facebook something about how you are doing with the weekly challenge and use the tag @freeplaylife, I’ll put your name into a mason jar! At the end of this week I’ll reach in and pull out a name and that person will get to claim the AMAZING and AWESOME give away gift. Which shall be revealed tomorrow. Because I’m kind of a slacker. But you already knew that…
Share TweetLove The Process!
Hey hey! I spent all last night looking at amazing self portraits on instagram, twitter and Facebook (tag yours with #fplphoto so I can find yours!). I’ve also been reading messages that talk about both the exhilaration and intimidation of self discovery.
It’s kind of like hopping into a time machine and revisiting adolescent angst, yes?! ha!
If you are following along on the 52 week challenge, then you’ll hit some road blocks…some of you already have. You may feel self conscious, a little afraid, a bit out of your comfort level. These are actually all great things, because it means you’re pushing and stretching yourself.
One of the things I wanted to do for myself was to learn how to hoop dance. Not hula hoop like I did when I was 7, but really groove with a hula hoop. It’s been 3 months so far, and I feel ridiculous still. What 39 year old hula hoops?! Well, I do. I’m not perfect and it’s not super graceful, but I went for it anyway. My other kids picked it up and now we all hoop together, which is so much fun!
When I was first starting, I watched a video by Safire called “Love The Process”. She made it as a kind of manifesto for her practice and her life, and I think it applies equally well to anyone trying to do anything:
I hope you are loving your process the last couple weeks. I’ve been loving seeing it happening for each of you who are on board with a more joyful, playful, free life. Don’t get caught up in the negative, fearful, self conscious feelings…just know they’re important in letting you know that you’ve hit something deep and need to stay there for a while. The more of those feelings you can release, the more space you’ll have for the good stuff to fill it back in.
Keep playing. Keep asking for what you need. Keep thinking about what you want. Keep seeing yourself for who you are. Love your process!
Share Tweet5 Tips To A Badass Self Portrait!
Starting along the path of self portraiture is intimidating, to say the least. Staring down a camera lens takes some serious balls. Especially when you are also the one snapping the shutter. It’s like, all of a sudden, every insecurity you’ve ever felt comes pouring out of you. But I wouldn’t be asking you all to do it if the rewards weren’t fanfuckingtastic. You will be in good company on your journey…so far over 400 women have joined the self portrait group I set up in flickr, 52 Weeks of BAM!
What is BAM? You are. Not because of what you look like, or wear, or say, or do. Just, simply, you. You put the bam in ‘bamtastic! And you’ll see this start to shine when you can capture all that in a self portrait. First you have to clear away some insecurities, doubts, esteem “issues”, uncomfortableness, and sheer panic. The only way to do this is to just keep on clicking the shutter of the camera with your face in front of it. Stare into the lens and be fearless. BAM!
Here are 5 tips to a badass self portrait that I’ve learned in the 3 years I’ve been doing this (year 1, year 2, and year 3 are here…)
TIP 1:
Take lots and lots of pictures. For every one self portrait that I’m happy with, I’ve already taken probably 30 that I don’t like. This isn’t uncommon, and it’s not a sign that you are failing. You know that image of a photographer taking a million pictures of a model? Ya, it’s not because he wants a million pictures of her…even models have unflattering angles and take bad pictures. He’s taking that many in the hopes that at least ONE will turn out! And you also know, in that same image of the professional photographer, that the model constantly changes her expressions & body movement. While you are taking picture after picture, also change yourself up. Click and move, click and move, click and move. You will either be laughing or crying by the end of it. Maybe both! Treat yourself to some wine and consider it a job well done!
this one simple pose? Just a picture with me beside it?! I had probably 55 outtakes. grrrrrrrrr….
TIP 2:
Talk to yourself like a best friend would. If you had a professional photographer around, s/he would be saying things like, “perfect!” “wonderful!” “yes! stay just like that, the light is perfect!!!!”. When I take portraits of people, part of my job is to relax and encourage them. Make them feel awesome and totally comfortable in their own skin. You aren’t going to have anyone there to do this for you, so it’s something you’ve just got to learn to do on your own. Talk to yourself they way you would talk to your best friend if she was trying to get all dressed up and pretty for a night out. If there’s one thing self portraits can bring out, it’s alot of bitchy, negative self talk. Be mindful of it, and gently change up the tone and negativity as if you are trying to talk your friend out of hating on herself. This is actually part of the magic of self portraits. Pretty soon, you actually develop a really nice attitude towards yourself.
at first all I saw when I looked at this one was, “omg I have no boobs, my forehead is wrinkly, my hair is oily, my nose is crooked, my bed is unmade…why did I even take this?!” and now I see a woman with a happy smile and gentle eyes. Often we find grace through self portraits.
TIP 3:
Start out by taking your picture in a reflective surface. There are a few different ways to capture yourself in a self portrait.
You can use a tripod and then hold a remote shutter in your hand (or set your in-camera timer to 10 seconds, which makes you do the “10 second dash” to get into position before the shutter releases):
you can hold the camera at arms length and turn it around to face you:
Both of those require a rather advanced level of self possession. However, if you are taking a picture of yourself looking into a mirror, then most of your face is covered anyway, so it’s less intimidating. You don’t have to stare down into a camera to do it.
A great place to find your perfect reflection shot is in public bathrooms. Among photographers this shot is called “Damn Hell Bathrooms” or DHB for short. (My friend Jessica’s are classic!) I mean, you’re in there all the time anyway. Or at least, I am with my kids either pooping or washing dirty stuff off or whatever. Bathroom self portraits are a great way to pass the time.
TIP 4:
Be you. Even the most mundane thing like housework becomes something special when you take the time to document it. Erika has some of the best everyday life selfies! To you it may just be the same old same old routine and totally unworth a photo. But it’s more than that. It’s proof of life. “Here I am! Kicking ass and moping floors!” and “Fuck yeah diaper changing!” Eventually that won’t be your routine anymore, and you will look back at this time in your life and actually feel nostalgic for it. Take it from someone that no longer is nursing or changing diapers…I wish I’d documented more of it. Not enough to have another baby to actually document it, mind you…
TIP 5:
Give your camera to your kid and ask them to take a picture. Then, instead of looking into a camera, you can instead focus on the kid behind the camera. And that will bring out something special in both of you. You will get to see the special smile that your child sees whenever you look at them, and they get to feel special that you are trusting them to work a camera (which feels oh so very adult when you’re a kid). And when your child says, “why do you want a picture of you?” you can say, “because I’m a superfly bad mofo!” By standing up for yourself, you are also making it OK for your child to feel like they are a superfly bad mofo, too.
If you are sharing your self portraits and family (with you in them!) photos on twitter, use #fplphoto so all of us can share together! If you are sharing them on facebook, you can tag @freeplaylife and they will show up on the freeplaylife facebook page.
Now go forth and take badass self portraits!
Share Tweet52 Weeks To A Freeplaylife: Week 2
“Once you know who you really are, being is enough. You feel neither superior to anyone nor inferior to anyone and you have no need for approval because you’ve awakened to your own infinite worth. ~ Deepak Chopra
I’m not gonna beat around the bush for this next week’s goal. I’m gonna come out and say it like a gansta. This next week, in addition to continuing to speak up for yourself, you are also gonna represent.
GET IN THE GAME!
SHOW UP!
BE SEEN!
A lot of the feedback I got from last week was that sometimes even when you asked for what you needed, no one listened. It’s a very invisible feeling. If being invisible was a feeling, which it’s not. But you know what I mean! It’s always nicer to feel like someone really sees you, and listens when you talk. So lets go back a step. Before expecting other people to see you, first you have to see yourself. And for this week’s challenge, I mean that in a very literal way. Oh yeah, bitches.
IT’S TIME TO GET IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA!
For this week, instead of the one taking all the pictures with your iphone/point and shoot/DSLR, I want you to hand it off to someone else to document YOU interacting with the people you were going to take a picture of. This can be a spouse, friend, and even one of your kids. Age doesn’t matter, even if it’s your 3 year old doing the snapping. In fact, some of the best pictures EVER are from the younger set. EVER!
And, not to be pushy, but also just turn the camera around and take a couple self portraits for good measure. I’ll share some tips to a great self portrait tomorrow. For now, just think on it. The more you don’t want to do it, the more you should. I promise. I talk about all the reasons why taking self portraits is one of the best things you can do for yourself and your family in great detail here…it’s really worth a read!
I was going to take this picture of just the kids, but instead made it a quick little self portrait shot of all of us. It’s fun to switch from being the documenter to being a part of the adventure!
Here’s an example of what I mean…a video by Jessica over at Bohemian Bowmans. She’s teaching herself how to hoop dance (basically, getting jiggy with a hula hoop and doing awesome stuff with it!). One night she was practicing, and I can just imagine the exchange that happened next between her and her preteen daughter–”Hey, will you take a video of me hooping?” You can hear her in the beginning of the video saying (proudly) “This is my mom”. By the end of the video they are laughing together. And if that’s not a freeplaylife moment, then I don’t know what is.
But first she had to say the words. “Hey. Take a picture of me!” Unsaid was ‘..because I’m worth it.’ ‘…because I’m proud of this.’ ‘…because this is worth documenting.’
Other people will see and respect you only as much as you see and respect yourself. So take some time this week to really see yourself.
Are you down with it?!
Can I get a hellz yeah?!!
Happy snapping!
If any of you are doing iphone photography, I highly recommend the totally FREE instagram app. If you have it or are getting it, I’m freeplaylife…come find me!
Share TweetMeet Our Cat. She Doesn’t Give A Shit.
This is our new cat. We rescued her in Utah. Her whole family was taken out by asshole raccoons, but she survived by hiding and staying quiet.
We took 2 weeks to come up with a name for her. Kit Kat was really popular for a while. Stripey was also in the running. Golfer thought “Daddy Fat Sack” would be the best. name. EVER. We took our time really getting to know her before deciding. We wanted her name to reflect who she really was and what she was like.
Finally, after 2 weeks of cathood, we all came to a unanimous decision.
Please, say hello to Honey Badger! Or not. She doesn’t give a shit. Her namesake, of course, is the Crazy Nasty Ass Honey Badger of youtube fame.
Within the first two weeks of adopting her, she’d made all of us bleed due to her sharp claws, pointy teeth, and surprise sneak attacks. She came and went as she pleased, without regard for any of us unless she needed something like a scratch or warm lap. We noticed she didn’t really do the things that dogs do (aim to please, obey commands, love us unconditionally, etc.) which might be obvious to some people but I’d only ever had a dog and figured that all domesticated animals would generally act the same way. Ha!
Cats are a whole different world entirely. I really dig that she was immediately litter trained. I really don’t dig all this attitude she dishes out when all I really want is to love her and have her love me in return. In my off moments I’ve been known to chase her around the house yelling, “Don’t you know I saved your life?! That you’d be dead without me? Can’t you just love me without being all pissy about it?!!!?!” This makes the kids say things like, “She’s not gonna like that mom! That’s not gonna make her very happy with you!” I’ve had to learn the hard way that she doesn’t give a shit. She just wants what she wants.
I recently posted on facebook:
On the one hand, it’s good to know that I’m not the only one dealing with a Crazy Nasty Ass Honey Badger. On the other hand, I wonder why even own a cat when the relationship is so one sided. Her sided. I have the scars to prove it! So please, if you have a cat, you must share with me why you love it so much. Or why you love to be annoyed and sneak attacked and ignored so much!
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weekly challenge update: Have you joined in the freeplaylife fun? Have you asked for what you really wanted so far this week? Have you made yourself a “What I Want” board on pinterest? I have! So far, what I want is VW Vans and old Ford trucks! If you need to be sent an invite to pinterest, let me know in the comments or on the freeplaylife facebook page and I’ll send you one!
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