a gift to my 46year old self

(this was from my work on the amazing Unravelling course by Susannah Conway - we have just had a week of examining and being kind to our faces which,as i seldom look in the mirror for fear of the horror that aging has wreaked on my life and general self distain evokes, was challenging and ultimately rewarding.

i write this here as a birthday present for myself

Looking at my face
26th april 2011

when i hold my own gaze i am more attracted to me

Yes i am tired and wrinkly but there is more to look at than that.

My lips are thinner than i deserve but i look better in a smile.

I have passable eyebrows

I deserve to take care of this face.

I can't hide it away, so i might as well cherish it...

treat it tenderly...

it greets the world for me so why not let it tell the world that beauty lives here?

I can smile lovingly at myself then, not withold kindness from my self as kind of honourable sacrifice.

No more.

Yes i am wrinkly and greay

AND YES, i am going to cherish every bit of beautiful i have.

(Maybe even grow some more)

being filled up

this trip filled me up

it was so amazing to be present to the beauty of Aotearoa, to feel like i was in another country because it is so different to my home... and yet it is still part of the same nation....

this photo is in a beach south of where i live, where i had never been before - the Auckland regional council cleverly made these ornate frames to frame the beauty of our land....

our girls are part of the picture of the beauty of our country!

i will post a photo with why it now claims part of my heart as often as i can....

with love
jane