What a fantastic month you have ahead of you! Hope it all goes smoothly. As I’m on holiday in Cornwall, I’ve realized that it takes me awhile to be brave, to be truly myself, because I’m somewhere foreign and new. As I go out exploring today, I am hoping to find the confidence in myself that I normally have. Your post helped me tremendously. Thank you!
Oo I have that book light, and it is indeed excellent. Your trip sounds AMAZING and I hope you spend 100% of the time feeling like you are exactly where you should be!
The question was "What’s one thing you’ve stopped waiting to do?"
What I heard was: "What's one thing you still can't do?"
For me, it's getting in the picture, literally. I can count, on one hand, the photos of me taken by someone else that I don't actually hate and want to burn. I guess it's some kind of dysmorphia, but every photo I see of myself is hideous, the stereotype of a teenage, unloved, nerd geek. I will be 69 this month and still have that vision of myself and sometimes worse. People will say, oh that's just not a good picture of your but when it happens over and over again I can only believe either people are being kind, or I'm that friend "with the good personality" and that blinds them. Not looking for any reassurances here, just putting to words something I don't like to talk about. So, for now, and for decades, the only way I have been able to deal with it is to not be in the picture. This may well become an essay I don't want to write...
A reading light = the best travel companion! Love this piece. It made me think about why I tend to feel a bit uprooted when I travel (aside from the obvious fact of being elsewhere) - I think it's the lack of rhythm and identity. On one hand I love it, but have to also embrace what feels unnatural. Bringing my creature comforts (reading light, mouth guard...) help me feel more grounded.
"Grand Cayman is no place for a woman in perimenopause" = best first line ever! And yes to all of what you wrote -- travel absolutely brings up body insecurities for me, and it can be so hard to live out of a suitcase when we're not comfortable in our own skin, let alone in the clothes we packed (!).
What a fantastic month you have ahead of you! Hope it all goes smoothly. As I’m on holiday in Cornwall, I’ve realized that it takes me awhile to be brave, to be truly myself, because I’m somewhere foreign and new. As I go out exploring today, I am hoping to find the confidence in myself that I normally have. Your post helped me tremendously. Thank you!
This Canadian hopes you love Canada!
Thanks, Donna! It’s the part I’m most looking forward to.
I am envious of your travel!
I'm lucky to be with a partner who loves travel as much as I do and then doubly lucky having the life that allows us to do it.
Oo I have that book light, and it is indeed excellent. Your trip sounds AMAZING and I hope you spend 100% of the time feeling like you are exactly where you should be!
Thank you, my friend!
The question was "What’s one thing you’ve stopped waiting to do?"
What I heard was: "What's one thing you still can't do?"
For me, it's getting in the picture, literally. I can count, on one hand, the photos of me taken by someone else that I don't actually hate and want to burn. I guess it's some kind of dysmorphia, but every photo I see of myself is hideous, the stereotype of a teenage, unloved, nerd geek. I will be 69 this month and still have that vision of myself and sometimes worse. People will say, oh that's just not a good picture of your but when it happens over and over again I can only believe either people are being kind, or I'm that friend "with the good personality" and that blinds them. Not looking for any reassurances here, just putting to words something I don't like to talk about. So, for now, and for decades, the only way I have been able to deal with it is to not be in the picture. This may well become an essay I don't want to write...
A reading light = the best travel companion! Love this piece. It made me think about why I tend to feel a bit uprooted when I travel (aside from the obvious fact of being elsewhere) - I think it's the lack of rhythm and identity. On one hand I love it, but have to also embrace what feels unnatural. Bringing my creature comforts (reading light, mouth guard...) help me feel more grounded.
"Grand Cayman is no place for a woman in perimenopause" = best first line ever! And yes to all of what you wrote -- travel absolutely brings up body insecurities for me, and it can be so hard to live out of a suitcase when we're not comfortable in our own skin, let alone in the clothes we packed (!).