An epiphany...

[Anne K]

I had an insight the other night that I am still wrestling with and am wondering if others have had a similar epiphany. I had purchased a couple of new dresses and tried them on for my wife. I put some makeup on and tried them on for her. She liked them and suggested that we take some pictures. After the photo shoot, I was looking at them and said to myself that I look pretty good. Later that night, I was reviewing them again and my wife asked me what I was thinking. Without thinking, I showed her one of the new pictures and blurted out that for the first time I was looking at a picture of me. Furthermore, I realized that when I looked at pictures of myself en drab, I felt like I was looking at a stranger and that it has never registered as a picture of "me". I never liked having my picture taken and never liked the images of "me".

IleneD just posted a thread about feeling like being in a play. I guess I've always felt like I was watching some guy work his was through life. As Joyce, I feel grounded and real, not an observer. I feel at peace. What a special gift to have a chance to see those pictures and realize that for the first time I am looking at me. Crazy stuff.......but I love it!

[Genny B]

Know the feeling well! Isn't it great! Keep that feeling in your heart to help you through the not so great times!
Genny B

[Becky Blue]

Joyce, I can so relate to what you experienced. The first time i saw Becky in the mirror was a Makeover, I still have that picture and I too looked at it and thought that is me. As a guy I always hate pictures of myself I am so unphotogenic.

The strangest thing is in the majority of pictures of me long before I knew about Becky, i am standing in very feminine poses. I have pictures with friends taken in my late teens, all the other boys have their chests puffed out and their legs apart. Me I am standing with one leg slightly behind the other with my chest almost collapsed.

[alwayshave]

Joyce, my avatar is the real me. My everyday presentation is a fraud.

[April Showers]

I can count on one hand the number of pictures of me in drab that we have ( and those are all family portraits i couldn't refuse to be in ) My wife is constantly amused at the amount of pictures and selfies April takes, Total polar opposites.

[IleneD]

Joyce,

Thank you.
This is one of the ways I am learning and growing with my habit of being Me.

[Pat]

I totally recognize that feeling. The first time I looked in a mirror and saw the real me looking back I cried. But be careful, it can send you on a long, strange trip to free her. ;)

[sometimes_miss]

IleneD just posted a thread about feeling like being in a play.
Yes. For me, playing the part of a normal guy is the role in the play. While I've learned to do it quite well, it's still all an act.

[Anne K]

Sage advice, Jennie. Since that epiphany, I have had to reign myself in. Still, I am so glad to have that glimpse of "me". I hope the younger members of our group can have the same experience while they are young. It may help them through the confusion and anxiety the older members have certainly wrestled with.

[Karen RHT]

I'm not particularly photogenic either way, but similar to April (and likely others) I have many more pictures of myself dressed than en drab. Reasons are quite simple really, I simply don't bother to take pictures, or pose for pictures, in daily life. I "freeze" when a camera is pointed my way, and have no idea how to present myself well to the camera. In every picture I've seen that was taken without my knowledge, there's something weird or unattractive about my face. Rarely am I pleased with the pictures I've taken of myself dressed.

Oh well...dressed or en drab, the pictures are all of me. No two ways about that.


Karen

[Tracy Irving]

I don't take pictures of myself while drab. I often take pictures dressed. I think I just look better in a dress. But I am biased.

[sara66]

I don't know if I feel more myself or I feel & look better when I am all dolled up. I take a lot of selfies as Sara, but absolutely none in drab. Maybe Sara is just a little more vein.
Sara

[Lana Mae]

My wife died in March,2015. I have not had an in drab photo taken since before then! There have been a few taken of Lana Mae! As I am happy with both sides of me, I do not feel badly toward one or the other! Guess that makes me Just a CD! LOL Hugs Lana Mae

[CynthiaD]

I so identify with that. My drab self isn't me. The guy in the mirror is a stranger. But the minute I put on a wig, something clicks, and I see myself. It happens so quick, it's not even a conscious thought. Just the flash of recognition that says, "Yes, that's me."

[DIANEF]

My epiphany moment came when I bought my first wig. Until then I had done the best I could with my short hair, (I was about 22 at the time), and looked like exactly what I was, a guy with some make up on. I managed to scrape up enough money for a proper wig and rushed home to try it. I got dressed in the best stuff I had at the time, did the make-up and put on the wig. I think I actually shut my eyes, and when I opened them there in the mirror was not me, but an attractive woman looking back. It was a magical moment I'll never forget and so wish I'd had a camera handy. Ever since I've not really liked having my picture taken in drab, though obviously you can't avoid it sometimes.