The other evening Jessica and I were scrolling
through pictures of us together and found a picture that made us both cry out
in disgust. We immediately saw our own flaws and hated how we were perceived in
this picture. I saw an overweight girl, a woman stocky rather than curvy. I saw
a butterball. Jessica saw something akin to a mouse or a weasel. She also
referred to herself as Mr. Potato Head - I don’t quite understand what she
meant. Neither of us could fully express how we felt about this picture. We
used grunting sounds and contorted faces to express our horror.
Then we looked away from the picture and looked
toward one another and started to crack up in fits of laughter. The noises coming out of our mouths
and our aghast expressions far outweighed the girls in the picture. Now we were
real girls, sitting in my living room in 2013, laughing at how much we hated
this image from 2008. The memory that we made the other night overshadows the
picture. Now this picture that once horrified us is connected with a happy
moment.
Jessica and I may never love our physical appearance
in that picture. I still feel round, and she still feels rodent like. But we
know that we are more than that image, and that overall we looked fabulous that
day in 2008 (and even if we didn’t, we felt
fabulous that day, and that’s what we remember). But none of that matters.
This picture represents out friendship, and the freedom that we feel in
expressing our flaws.
I’ve never laughed more while writing than I have while writing this blog entry.
Five minutes later, I have read this blog out loud to Jessica, and could not
speak the words through all the laughter. We are crying hysterical tears of
joy. This picture is now iconic for our friendship.
I encourage you all to look through old pictures
with trusted friends and find humor in your flaws. If you can have even one
moment like Jessica and I shared, I assure you – it’s worth it.
And now, the picture:
 |
| All my boyfriend notices are our boobs. |
