A Picture is Worth A Thousand Laughs

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.