My dream to heal self-esteem with photography leaps forward with every client that suddenly sees themselves in a different way. I have long been wondering how to help people who haven’t had the opportunity to work with me yet.
I started to notice a pattern in with my closest girlfriends and sisters.
We are constantly putting ourselves down. But if a trusted friends catches us saying these harmful things and helps us rewrite our script something amazing happens. (In psychology this is called reframing.) We TRY to believe them. Just the exercise of suspending our disbelief actually helps us believe in our beauty even if for a short time.
I would like to start a movement.
Not everyone realizes that the things we say about ourselves are often tapes playing over and over. Often these things aren’t true! If you hear someone around you despairing themselves, cut them off and tell them what YOU see. They will insist. They’ve held onto this for a long time and it be scary to let it go. Keep insisting. It could be something small. Or it could be something that lifts a weight off of their hearts.
Let me say that this doesn’t work if the compliment is a false one. You have to truly believe in your friend and believe that they are wrong.
Come back and comment here if you have trouble getting them to hear you or if you have a lovely encounter that helps them see themselves differently. Pay-It-Forward Beauty.
Iman Woods is an American artist who specializes in pin-up photography. Through a unique and therapeutic process, she’s spent over a decade in perfecting, Iman helps women undo the damage from a negative self-image and unrealistic beauty industry expectations. She helps women embrace their own style of beauty and see themselves in a new light. You can find her on her website, ImanWoods[dot]com.
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