I love this thread - so many thoughtful people here. This is something I’ve been thinking about quite a bit recently - really just starting to question all of the assumptions I’ve been making my whole life about how one should think about the world, and how one should be.

I’m enjoying allowing myself to be vulnerable. I’m enjoying being able to be deliberate about my identity and how I project myself on the world, and to use that to care for and help others. I’m also enjoying feeling that it’s legitimate for me to care for, be compassionate towards and love myself.

I’d work on setting up the photography. The second photo definitely looks better because of the higher camera angle, but the pose, lighting, focus, etc. could all be improved.

I’d suggest looking up a few blog posts on how to pose for selfies - it makes a huge difference, and take the photo somewhere where the lighting’s naturally right rather than wherever you happen to be. Use the timer function so you don’t have to hold the phone, and take loads of photos so you can keep the best and throw the rest away.

And remember - the good photos are what you look like in real life, the bad ones make everyone look terrible. It’ll make you look gorgeous.