I earned that wrinkle.

 As a society we talk about beauty and what is attractive so often, when it comes to trying this fashion or that diet. During the past few weeks with the Oscars, fashion week and other current news items popping up I have found myself talking a lot about these things with my daughter.

When my daughter and I were discussing her 100 day school project... (They were asked to write about what they would look like, and things that would be different in their lives when they are 100 years old) I found myself with an opportunity to reconsider a conventional way of thinking that society seems perfectly content with promoting.

I admit I was a little shocked, and upset when reviewing the different class projects where many of them (not just my daughter) said that they would be ugly and wrinkled.

Really?

Do wrinkles make you ugly? 

I really had to think about this, and my photographer mind set in. I freaked out a little bit to be honest when I realized that I I almost always end up retouching out the crows feet, or some other wrinkles for clients. In fact, when I had my own images taken by another photographer this past year... I retouched my own!

It was vanity at its finest, I know! 

I reevaluated my personal thoughts on the matter as I asked my daughter why she thought wrinkles were ugly, and she said "Because they make you look old." So is old not pretty, can it not be beautiful... even attractive? There it was staring me in the face, the thing that makes us all pull up our cheeks and eyes in the mirror every morning and wish for younger days. It is the reason I have spent countless hours on the computer retouching images to "take off a few years".

I have to say... I wasn't happy about the way that made me feel, as a woman, or as a parent. I suddenly realized that grey hairs are not the only thing we "earn" in this life.

I EARNED MY WRINKLES

It came at a price. It came with sunny days at the pool with friends, ER visits, divorces, working too hard, playing too hard, heart-ache, passion-blindness, projectile vomit at 2am, over coming my fears, and all the other ups and downs that come with LIVING. I am happy to join the ranks of women who are old enough to have them. I know that my experiences have brought more than wisdom, joy, or disappointment. They have brought me to this perfect moment in my life.

The moment that I can teach my daughter that there is more to beauty than what you see. Where I can explain, each wrinkle tells a story and a lesson. You earn them in your life, and you should be proud that your living long enough to gain them.

So today, I am sharing my wrinkles with you. I earned them, and I am proud to say that I am going to embrace them from this day forward so that I can be a better role model for my daughter.

Image from http://www.kristahaffnerphoto.com/