Kiley in Kentucky: I love my self(ie)

sel·fie

ˈselfē/

noun

informal

a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website.

"occasional selfies are acceptable, but posting a new picture of yourself everyday isn't necessary"
.......................................

I'll admit to taking at least one selfie a day. If you took hold of my phone, you would make me admit to more. But, it's whatever. I take selfies whether I'm dressed up or dressed down--like yesterday when I wore workout clothes the whole day with no intentions of working out.

Lots and lots of people think selfies are a display of vanity. And I totally, completely, wholeheartedly understand, and on some levels, agree. HOWEVER, in my incessant usage of social media (specifically, Facebook and Instagram) I've noticed a trend. On average, selfies get more "likes" and comments than any other type of picture. Based on my personal experience, I could expect to get more likes on a photo of my face than I would on a picture of a beautiful piece of art or a gorgeous scene found in nature. If this is the same for others, does that not encourage us to turn the camera in our own direction and spend 5-10 minutes taking the perfect picture (because, yeah, no one achieves that on the first or fifth try)? In a society fueled by social media, it certainly does. And, I'm as guilty as anyone.

I take selfies with...

my coffee

my precious, PRECIOUS grumpy cat

and buildings where photography is strictly forbidden. Remember all your disapproval before this one, Daniel?

I even took a selfie with Starry Night one time.

Like, the real one.

BUT! I will not apologize anymore! No, sir, I will not.

Because, lately I have been reliving practically every day of 2012-2013 through photograph--mostly captured by a grainy iPhone camera. Let me be the first to say, there were as many selfies as there were anything else. I searched for any pictures taken on August 1, 2012 or 2013, hoping to revisit what it was I chose to document. On August 1st, 2013, I only took one photo. I was a LITTLE ashamed to see that it was a selfie.

Looking at this photo, the general public can discern only a few things:

I'm in a vehicle

I appear to be in an excellent mood.
One of my eyes is clearly bigger than the other.

But I look at this photo and remember that day very clearly...

I thought my hair looked awful

I got up extra early to make a trip to Bowling Green for work

I stopped in Horse Cave and got a McDonald's coffee

I was excited to have a reason to wear that sweater

I went in a Hobby Lobby, but didn't buy anything

I wore a pair of heels all day

My feet didn't hurt (success)

I had Mexican food for supper (a grilled chicken salad to be exact)

It's a strange concept, to remember all of those things after looking at a picture of my face.

I tried it out with a few more selfies, and a version of the same thing happened with each one--I recalled memories of the most trivial things that happened on the most uneventful of days all the way back to early 2012.

Looking at that photo now, I have nothing but positive thoughts. What I once thought was a bad hair day, I now look at and (almost) wish for long hair again. That squinty eye sticks out like a sore thumb, but it doesn't bother me now like it did when I first took the picture.

While some may think selfies are vain--I'm with you, they kind of are. But, this particular selfie reminded me to better appreciate one of the thousands of days of my life I have taken for granted or chalked up as average. Maybe I would have remembered all those details if I had taken a picture of the McDonald's drive-thru in Horse Cave...I don't know, but I doubt it.

Of all the selfies I take--granted, I would rather include a second person (or cat)--I'm most grateful for the ones taken on ordinary days. They're the ones that remind me there is something to remember in every day, whether or not I realized it at the time. But, I can't help feeling sorry for my grandkids. What a boring photo album they will have to remember me by! (Note to self: go on more adventures)

Sorry, grandkids. Sorry, world. I'm not going to stop with the selfie-taking. Looking through my vast collection of selfies has reminded me of so many wonderful times with the most amazing people...and renewed interest in certain items of my wardrobe I had shoved to the back of the closet and forgotten about.

In the spirit of selfies, here are a few in my collection. You can't tell much about any of them (unless you're the other person in it), but I can remember something good (often, many somethings good) about these days, in particular--almost all of which I had forgotten about until now.