Body

I love seeing these two images next to each other. On the left a waif of a woman, a cartoon, yes, but the standard of an "ideal" woman in America. On the right, laugh lines and wrinkles from living, and the years that go with life. The pressure to conform on one side, and riding barefoot on your bicycle on the other. Empty and predictable versus colorful and spontaneous.

It's easy to conform to life's expectations, but the more we open ourselves to others, life gets a little brighter. People & relationships add dynamics that are beyond our control. The people I love have brought  deep, searing pain to my life. And they have given me happiness so great that it makes my heart ache.

The truth is that I want to grow old, wrinkly (perhaps even pudgy) from laughter...tears...and living life. No botox for me. I want people to see this face someday and know that it was lived wholeheartedly. (I already have gray hair, so wrinkles are next anyway, right?)
~Shelby