Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Prompt:   Mess up your hair. If you are wearing makeup – smudge it. If you have a pair of pants that dont really fit you – put them on. Put on a top that doesn’t go with those pants. Go to your sock drawer. Pull out two socks that don’t match. Different lengths, materials, colors, elasticity.  Now two shoes. You know the drill.  Need to add more?  Ties?  Hair clips? Stick your gut out? I trust you to go further.  Take a picture.  Get ready to post it online.

Are you feeling dread?  Excitement?  Is this not the image you have of yourself?   Write about the fear or the thrill that this raises in you?   Who do you need to look good for and what story does it tell about you?  Or why don’t you care?   (Author: Matthew Stillman)

My Image

Being me is a full-time job.  Distractions abound.  Images of me are drawn from snapshots of times and places.  Friends define me.  Acquaintances categorize me. Employers pigeonhole me.  Family members tell stories about me.   People create images based on their perceptions and experiences, not mine.

Every photo I take is different.  And every image others have of me differs.  The one that counts is my image of self.  It frees me to sleep at night, work at what I enjoy, contribute to what I believe in and love others as I love myself.  The image I have of myself avoids worrying about what others think of me:  “She’s different; she’s friendly;  she’s not friendly; she’s one of us; she’s quirky.”

My self-image gives me the freedom to live with my fears, hopes, complexities and dreams.  That’s the best image designed especially for me.  That’s the image that tells my story.