Full of... Courage?

Lately I've been wondering - how much is enough?

How much confidence is enough? Do I just need a little more... or a lot?
There are body acceptance movements, of varying types that I have been exploring mostly as a voyeur thus far.

Blogger & fashionista, Jessica Kane recently had a 'full body shot' campaign, accompanied by a contest to liberate us bigger gals to take a full body photograph of ourselves.  A daunting feat for any self conscious woman, so an interesting concept to tackle with plus sized readers.  The response was  fantastic from both women & retailers with Jessica receiving 1100 entries.  She will be drawing the winner's today.
I love Jessica's blog & have been thinking about this idea of empowering someone to love themselves & physically SHOW the world all there is to love.  Writing a plus size fashion/lifestyle blog has forced me in front of a camera and instead of just the (as my husband calls them) 'myspace portraits' I used to take & use as profile pictures I have to think of myself in a more 4x6 format... full body, outfit pictures.

A typical Emma portrait from back in the MySpace days...

Moving from close up to 'wide format' (ok that pun was totally intentional) takes guts.. bravery... courage! So I must have some, right??

Bah!! Wide Lens!!

But about 10 seconds after a blog post goes up, the self doubt kicks in. So clearly, not THAT brave.
Sometimes the posts don't even go live because once I see the photos on the screen I think 'now THAT was a bad outfit decision'! So clearly, not that much courage.


Another body acceptance movement I stumbled on was, funnily enough (& not at all a coincidence given my choice of wording) on tumblr*.  There are tons of accounts just there to promote beauty of one kind or another... be it very specific, (fuckyeahchubbyfashion or tattooed & chubby ) or just open to positivity (lovethechub or Curvy is the new black ).
I really dig the idea that girls can just go & post a picture of themselves from when they felt fabulous! In fact both my friend Vanessa & I have done it!

Hot Vanessa-ness

Not only is it accessible & easy to have a 'feel good' moment, but your fellow tumblrs are right there, supporting you through it & cheering you on (in the form of reblogs & likes... tumblr lingo but sweet all the same).

This isn't a post with any resolution, or even a glaring insight. It is strictly a post of me rambling about something that has been on my mind a lot lately, something I am trying to examine about myself.  When do you know that you have enough courage? How do you test bravery?

I will keep you up to date if there are any further developments or acts of bavery.

Stay fabulous....

Em


*I should warn you right now that not all of tumblr is safe for work, familiy viewing etc. Anyone can post images & thoughts about whatever they would like. Please use your own discreation.