The Start | #100daysofmeandthem
I'm always starting something new because I am the type of person that gets excited and energized by those around me. Instagram is my favorite place for collecting this energy.
You must follow my dear friend @annetteharing. She is one of those friends I've had for years and we have yet to meet in real life. But we are cooking something up to change that this summer. I digress...
Annette continually inspires and encourages and through her I discovered @elleluna and her #THE100DAYPROJECT. It's pretty simple. You play along for 100 days with a daily habit, it can be anything.
The first thing that popped into my mind was the thing that is most lacking from my photographs, ME. But, I'm not a selfie person, self portrait more so, but certainly not selfie. And then I thought how about me AND those around me that I love? Me and the boys, me and the husband, me and the parentals, me and the ones I call friend. And so #100daysofmeandthem was born.
The first day I was so excited. I was was getting a crockpot dinner ready while they ate breakfast and it felt RIGHT. So, I set up the camera with the self timer and took five frames. That evening I loaded them to my computer and thought NO I cannot do this.
All I saw were the extra 60 pounds on my body, the lack of makeup, the boring hair. It was the tape that runs through my mind, in stereo, with visuals. And so I decided, nope not going to do it.
Then, the next day, we were waiting in the carpool line and goofing around with my phone camera.
And I liked it enough that I shared it. And the likes and the comments made me feel good, so good. But here is the thing, I should feel good because of the tape that runs through my mind not because of likes or comments.
I need to see me as much as they need to see me. And so I decided to do this. I don't think I will love everything I see but I'm committed to this experiment. Because I'm tired of hiding from the camera. I'm tired of low self esteem when I see my photograph. And if I don't like what I see maybe I will inspired to change what I don't like.
The first step in ANY journey is awareness and I don't know what this journey is or where the path will lead but it's about damn time I stop hiding and start seeing myself. At first I thought this was for them but now I see this is for me. Here's to #100daysofmeandthem.
From time to time I'll be sharing this project here and on Instagram (@monicamcneillfoto) but so that I can keep this real and do the work I need to do I'm not holding myself accountable to sharing every capture.
