Week 10: Now You See ME, Now You Don't (Member Photos)
The women in this project never cease to amaze me. They have so much talent, strength, beauty, and creativity. I loved seeing all the different takes on the theme this week. Enjoy the inspiration...
Tausha Coates
Shanna Aitken - This is my year to reclaim me. I often feel overlooked, and it's a feeling I bring upon myself. I wear a veil so often to cover my true self, my true feelings, for fear of offending or wearing on someone else, that sometimes I don't even recognize who I really am.
Jenny Parker - This was a tough week for me. My little (but growing!) family lives with my mom and dad b/c my dad is very sick. We left most of our furniture and things in storage until earlier this year when I realized we had spent almost $8k in storage fees these last 5 years living in someone else's house. My husband and I use this loft area as our private living room, our only real place to get away and just be the two of us again. Our little refuge is becoming crammed full of mom's stuff and our stuff and baby stuff. The whole house is packed; it's so unlike the home I left behind. some days, I feel like I'm being swallowed not only by all the physical stuff, but also by the sadness of this house. I'm afraid when it's all over, that I will have disappeared and there will be nothing of me left. I am so glad I joined this group. Some weeks, it is so therapeutic for me.
Trish McCoy - When you suffer from Acute Anxiety/Panic disorder you want it gone and never want it back. It imprisons you. It's such a struggle. And it makes me want to hide from the world.
Alexis Pickard - Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storms, but to add colour to my sunset sky ~ Rabindranth Tagore
Adriana Meixner
Briar Marie - When this boy, my oldest was born, everyone said how much he looked like his Daddy. I've never been much good at seeing parents in their kids' faces. Especially at the baby age. So I didn't think much about it myself. But by the time he was a year old, it was all I heard. And even though I didn't want to admit that it bothered me, it really did. This tiny person that had taken over my entire identity still somehow didn't fully belong to me. He was his Daddy's son. I had my second son only 19 months after the first and he was born with his Daddy's beautiful bright blue eyes and blonde hair. And it started all over again. In fact, one friend even commented how odd it was that the two boys could look so different from each other and yet still both look like their Daddy. So which one looks like you, Briar? I knew none of it should bother me and I love their Daddy (my husband) more than anything, so there was never any kind of resentment...just an isolation. And then one day, my sister sent me a picture of our Dad when he was a kid. There aren't many pictures of our parents as kids so I had never seen it before. And it looked almost exactly like my oldest son. I mean, I might have thought it WAS my son if it hadn't obviously been an older photo. And all the sudden I could see it for myself. There I am. heart emoticon Right there in his eyes, I've been there all the time.
Eboni Rivera - "Have you seen my glasses?" is a common question I ask. As I've gotten older I've been forced to give my eyes a break from constant contact usage and so now I wear my glasses more often than not. The hardest part of it is remember where the heck I put them, even when they are in the most obvious spot!
Jennifer Podesta - "ME" time: the coveted bath. Something I used to get frequently, and is now extremely rare.
Emily Ingalls - Alone time is precious to me. I hardly ever get a moment alone. For some reason my kids always seem to need me when I'm in the shower, the bathroom, or just trying to get household chores done. Every now and then, I can carve out a few precious moments alone to feel like a woman (not just mom) again. I'm not a girly, girl by any means, but I do love painting my toenails. That simple act is for me and only me.
Kortney Fox - I have always been the quiet, hide in the corner type of person. I have always doubted myself and never had the confidence to just stand up and be who I want to be. After many years of this, I finally decided that life is too short and I should do what I want, be who I am, and not care about what I think others may be thinking. My skin is porcelain white, my hair is dark purple, my glasses are nerdy, and I love it, because it is truly me. I am embracing my love of photography and starting a business I never thought I was good enough to start. It's much easier said than done but little by little I am finally showing others the person I know I am deep down. I want to be able to one day look back and have no regrets. So I guess mine is more "first you didn't see me and now it's time you do".
Jennifer L. Bruce - Where I live, the winters seem endless. There comes a point where you start to believe that summer will never return. You live in Narnia, where it is always winter, never Christmas. Even your soul becomes lost in an endless sea of grays. But then something shifts, the first rays of light find their ways through skeletal branches. The sun rises in a different place, it climbs higher in the sky, and the days finally look like daytime again. We are not quite to equinox, where the day is as long as the night...but we soon will be. And then another shift occurs. The nights lose their blackness and the endless light of summer begins. I look forward to those long days. Here I am watching the last of the sunlight fade behind me as I embrace the crescent moon above. I only wish I had time to get her in the frame, too. I am almost lost in that sea of gray. Almost, but not quite. Now you see me.
