WELCOME! I hope you'll stay and click around a bit. If you like something you see, I encourage you to subscribe to my RSS feed and connect with me through my other social media buttons. Thanks for visiting! I am no stranger to Photoshop and the magic that can take place within that software. Amazing transformations can happen if you have the know how and your final product can look absolutely nothing like the photo you started with. This can be both a blessing and a curse, in my opinion. A blessing because that zit in the middle of our forehead can be removed with the spot removal tool. A curse because I do believe we’ve it a bit to far.
I’ve been participating in Selfie Saturday for quite sometime now. Elena and her blog are one of the inspirations behind this Revolution series in a positive way. Being involved in her selfie hop made me take a good long look at myself and what I am teaching my two children about being comfortable in their own skin. If I, myself, am not comfortable in my own skin then how could I possibly expect my children to be? And if you’ve been following this series then you’ve heard this before and know just how Revolution began.
I admit, I was a little caught off guard when I hopped over to Elena’s blog to discover this past week’s selfie prompt was “perfection”. The pictures posted to demonstrate were off-putting to me. They caused my heart to ache a little. If we are using the liquify tool to make us look 30 pounds lighter and passing these images off as “real” then what message are we sending to society? To our children? To OURSELVES??? We aren’t skinny enough, pretty enough, our eyes aren’t blue enough… We could go on and on with the tools available to achieve so called “perfection”. So where do we draw the line?
I am guilty of brightening the eyes, smoothing out skin tones, removing a blemish or two. But I would never feel right about liquifying myself to a size 4 and passing it off as me. It’s NOT me. And I will never again be a size 4 in my entire life. God did not make me a size 4. My daughter will probably never be a size 4 considering she is literally my carbon copy. So if I don’t teach her that size 8 is beautiful, who will? Certainly not society.
Photoshop has it’s place. And I believe in enhancing things that are already there. But it is not the key to loving ourselves and being happy with who we are. The only key to this kind of happiness is with God and growing in our relationship with Him. Only then can we begin to understand that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Made in His image. And He is perfect.
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. ~ 1 Corinthians 15:10
Embrace your perfect imperfections. Be real. Be You.
Is God working in an area of your life you’d like to share with us? Feel free to grab a button and link up. Linky will remain open all week. Blessings to you all!
As you know I fully agree with you on how far the editor of those pictures went to edit these women. They are plus size models and making them anything than that is going against what’s true and real. But the most amazing thing is that if you look at most covers, that’s what’s done to edit celebrities. Certain things I cam understand, they obviously want the cover to be “perfect” so they will edit out the wrinkles and skin but I’ve seen covers where they would take a 50 year old and turn her into a 20 yearold. Or ad where the editor went soooo fat that an already skinny model now looks sickly anorexic.
I think there’s nothing wrong with making a photo pretty but the key is to know where to draw the line. Whether you’re simply editing out a distracting element or changing the reality completely
Btw, I’m not sure if you read my whole post and got it but those pictures were not put up to demonstrate “perfection” but to show what can be done with photoshop and how editing can go way too far.
Twitter: playdoughcarpet
Oh boy. I know Photoshop has come in handy when trying to downplay roots, whiten teeth, get rid of a zit (or a bandaid that one child forgot to take off and I didn’t realize was going to be in EVERY photo!). But to drastically change the body or turn someone into something they’re not is just absurd.
Another great revolution post my friend!
Good post Courtney, but I can see how editing that far can be fun, as long as it is stated that it is an “extreme” edit. I don’t have the skills, but it is amazing that it is possible.
beautiful post Courtney. I am what I am too and the key to a peaceful and content life is when we learn to embrace our bodies, our personalities and our “flaws.” That is when I feel the closest to “perfect.” Embracing who and what God made me to be! You are beautiful inside and out!
Twitter: anniewiltse
Oh, I love this post, because even though I’m a size 2/4, I struggled with body image, too. I used to hate my thighs because they were so big. It took me a while to realize that the reason they were was because I had been playing soccer for years. These legs have cleared defensive zones and scored goals. I would never trade that ability to have skinnier, more proportional legs, and I would never edit them or let anyone edit them to pretend I had them, either.
My favorite paragraph is this one: “Photoshop has it’s place. And I believe in enhancing things that are already there. But it is not the key to loving ourselves and being happy with who we are. The only key to this kind of happiness is with God and growing in our relationship with Him. Only then can we begin to understand that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Made in His image. And He is perfect.” So eloquent. So true.
You know it’s funny (amusing) because I JUST put a photo of me up on my main blog, laying on the porch swing. I looked it over and thought “Oh geesh…I do NOT like that photo” but decided that it’s just me. And that’s all there is to it.
Amen! You said all that needed to be said.
Twitter: ffpmamma
Such a good word & reminder. Just this past week I have been struggling with the weight I have gradually been putting on since I had Pule (15 months ago!). Being a WFHM, I have realized that I need to make working out intentional. So, let’s go for a walk! You have to start somewhere. This is where I am starting out.
Back in college I thought of myself as a giving person. Almost too much. Loving others, serving others, taking people under my wing…you get it. Then I had one of those epiphany moments. I don’t recall what triggered it, or if I read it, but it has always stuck with me. I am not in the position to love others until I fully love myself. Everything about myself! Yep, that was something I really had to process. I can honestly say that I do love myself BECAUSE I WANT to love others.
While I am not happy about my weight right now I am not obsessing over it either. I am not hitting myself about it. I am loving myself in spit of it.
Thanks for the reminder Courtney. If I wasn’t so focused on my current writing on my blog for the next 10 days I would have posted something like this there to link up. Will do so soon. For now the focus is on MM (hubby).
I think it can be so tempting to do certain things to photos. It’s easy to go too far. I know I have taken photos of myself & changed the eye color to just see what it would look like if I had the eyes I wish I had. I could always get contacts & have talked in depth with the hubs about that. But he loves my brown eyes & was actually sad that I would want to change them. It is always going to be hard for me to look at photos of myself. I get ready for the day & I think I am feeling pretty good about my appearance. Then I decide that while I am pulled together- that would be a good time to take my selfies for the week. Then I see the shots & get a good dose of reality. How I am seeing myself in the mirror is not how people are seeing me. The camera is capturing how I really look & while selfies have done a lot of good for me- they have also been mind twisting. I now know more than ever what others see- thanks to the camera. & I am not all to pleased with those images. But at least I have a shot of reality & know what I really need to work on.
Amen! Of course, that doesn’t make me stop trying to take a self-portrait that doesn’t show my sagging skin or nose that I know is getting larger as I age! But I wouldn’t know what to do in Photoshop, anyway. Remember when a photo of Katie Couric was ‘thinned’ without her knowledge or permission?
BTW…size 8? I was never that size, and I consider myself quite average.
Twitter: capturedbyjenna
Wow, once again, I couldn’t agree more. The world has become WAY too focused on weight as being the sole reason for beauty. In my opinion, the girls above are more beautiful in the original shots than in the doctored seconds because that’s who they REALLY are. I hate that if you aren’t a size 2 without one bit of cellulite, then you aren’t ideal for society. I too lighten eyes & remove blemishes and use a skin smoothing tool for a light “dreamy” effect… but like you said, I would NEVER feel comfortable taking it THAT far. Honestly, I don’t even know how to edit to that degree, nor do I want to learn how!
Those photos upset me a bit, too. And I found myself wondering how the model in the photo felt. I wasn’t created to be a size 4 either. I’m a size 8 and pretty much always have been. I think that teaching our children how to take care of themselves and love who they are without photoshop is the most important thing.
And Presley will be gorgeous no matter what size she is. 
Thank you. None of my words will do any justice to the amount of praise you deserve for typing this. So, I’ll just say it again….thank you for this.
You are most welcome. But no thanks needed – just speaking from my heart.
so happy and touched that you hopped over and took the time to comment. I hope you’ll come back soon and have a great week!
Hi there, i just wanted to drop you a line to say that i thoroughly enjoyed this particular post of yours, I have subscribed to your RSS feeds and have skimmed a few of your posts before but this one really stood out for me. I know that I am just a stranger to you but I figured you might appreciate the appreciation
– Take care – and keep blogging.
Thank you so very much! So glad you took the time to read it and comment. Blessings!