The Faces of February (A Note on Selfies)

March 2, 2014

The Faces of February (A Note on Selfies)

This blog photo made lovingly with PicMonkey

I’ve been writing in a journal every day since January 1st of this year. In 2006 I made a similar commitment to myself, but this year, I’m also snapping a picture of myself to add to each daily post, just for fun. I guess you could call it a selfie a day. (Don’t worry, they’re private–I wouldn’t do that to you.)

Selfies are interesting. On Instagram, there are hundreds of selfies (thousands probably), and I don’t really mind seeing them. I read an article somewhere about how we should forget about the people who get annoyed at people who take selfies–if you’re looking fabulous on a certain day, then why the hell not?

I typically only post public selfies after I’ve been drinking (whoops), but this year I kind of wanted to take more. Not necessarily to share with anyone, but to keep privately, to remember the way that I look.

I’m speeding towards dirty 30 every minute of every day. My 30th birthday is still about a year and a half away, and I know I will look very much the same, but not exactly. I want to capture my self today, on March 2nd, when I am 28. I want to capture myself every day, and then later in the evening, write about it with my picture. It sounds a bit conceited or something when you try and explain it, but it’s not really about conceit. It’s kind of like when you stumble upon a picture taken months ago and think, damn that picture came out great, and how odd that I see my face different than what it actually looks like in this awesome picture.

That’s why I do it, to always remember that there is a difference from the way that other people see me, and the way that I see myself. Usually I see myself as not so great looking, as I’m sure we all sort of do for some ungodly reason. But when I stare at the ‘selfie’ later on, I think, hey what the hell, this is a great picture! Also, I’m always smiling in the picture, so I do it to remind myself of my ‘happy face’ when I sit down to write about the day. Not only does the smiling face in the picture make me a bit happier, but it makes me appreciate the way I look in this very moment of time, and to be grateful for it.

Does any of this makes sense?

This morning I was reviewing all of my faces from February, and all of my posts. February was filled with a lot of activity, roaches in my apartment, a suspicious gas smell coming from my kitchen, my first time discovering Archer, a somewhat painful dentist appointment, a nice day catching up with old friends, and very, very busy days at work. It’s amazing how much can happen in a month, and how much a person can be so glad it’s over. But hey, with all those selfies, each day there was a smile.

Oh yeah! I also started a new Twitter account for my short fiction/poetry. My twitter name is @EyesDiscover.

I’m so obsessed with it. I knew writing made me happy but I think pithy snippets of poetry and fiction make me happier. It lets me unclog all of the thoughts in my head in a single sentence, and putting them out into the world makes me feel like I am leaving an impression. It’s like they say on the Unmistakable Creative, “The goal is not to live forever, but to create something that does.”

Have a beautiful weekend.