I explained to a friend how I don’t identify with my appearance in pictures or videos of myself and she, as someone who has mental health issues but is also a model with a career that revolves around what she looks like and her identity, said she could relate and gave me some really resonating advice that I’m still thinking about. She said,
“That picture, that video, whatever it is, is a product of you. Even though you don’t necessarily identify with the image you see in it, it still came from you. Like a sketch, or an art piece, or a song. These things don’t look like you but they are still things you have created, things that are creative expressions of you and who you are. The image you see isn’t just your outward appearance, it’s a reflection of who you are. How you set up photos and videos, what you wear, music, background, editing, it’s all you.”
Her comment introduced a whole new way to identify with myself that I’m gonna keep exploring, so I wanted to pass it along.