You may remember my message from a couple weeks ago, Fearlessly You, where I discussed how my own insecurities were falling on my daughter, and how she had been running from the camera, afraid to look silly. She has a great smile. When she’s happy or excited, her eyes somehow get really big and squint at the same time. One closes more than the other, causing the look of a mischievous twinkle, and her smile is ever so slightly bigger on that side.
However, in recent weeks, leading up to my discovery, she had been scowling whenever a camera was put in her face. She would stop, mid-smile, to give us a frown of disapproval for taking her picture. She would run from the room, or from the sight of the camera to avoid having her picture taken.
Then, I had my light bulb moment.
Since that moment, and that Fearlessly You message, I have made a conscious effort to put myself in front of a camera more frequently, and without too much thought. I have been silly on Instagram and Snapchat; a little more fearless in being my own goofy self. I have allowed for my picture to be taken, even when not fully “ready,” and I have tried really hard, to show my daughter a more confident me. On Thanksgiving, as my husband and I were taking pictures of ourselves and our family around us, we both noticed the same thing.
He pulled me aside and told me, “I think that video you posted is working.” He proceeded to show me picture after picture of our daughter being silly; most importantly, being herself. Her confident, twinkling smile had returned! She was even jumping into pictures with other people, photo bombing with glee. This made me so happy!
This is a journey that’s not yet complete. This is a journey I must continue to follow through on, but I wanted to share the realization that I had.
You guys, maybe millennials don’t have it all wrong. They are largely, and unfairly misjudged. When selfie was first defined, it received a lot of push back from the older generations. It seemed like a vain and conceited practice; taking ones own picture, sometimes repeatedly. It seemed prideful, narcissistic, and self-involved, and it certainly can be these things.
But I’ve also learned that it can be fun. It can be silly. It can be used in such a way as to not take yourself so seriously.
If there is one thing about myself, in which I am completely confident, it is my imperfection. I was not created to be perfect, and neither were you, so let’s stop pretending. We were created to need a Savior. We are imperfect human beings, each and everyone of us, and we should celebrate that.
Wait whoa, hold on; celebrate sin?
Nooooo, celebrate our need for a savior! Celebrate our need for grace. Celebrate our need for mercy. Embrace the imperfections which cause us to cry out for Jesus, and acknowledge them; not proudly, but clearly, so that others may know the realness of the love and grace of Christ. With each silly Snapchat, and each crazy, voice changing video, I am learning to take myself a whole lot less seriously. Taking ourselves too seriously, or trying to be “over righteous,” or “overwise,” as Ecclesiastes says, can lead to pride; a pridefulness which forgets our need for Jesus. So, take GOD seriously, take His Word, His Love, His Righteousness seriously. And take yourself down a few notches with some ridiculous selfies.
Through selfies, I am learning to embrace the imperfect me, who needs a little bit of silly, and a whole lot of Jesus, and I am having a ROTFL good time with my children.