Recently, I have been going through changes both good and sometimes bad. The good outweighs the bad by leaps and bounds. This year I decided to take myself in hand and take care of myself. Set some realistic goals and even with minor setbacks, the path is still pretty clear ahead. One fo the changes I decided to do was to become more girly. Now, to hear my mom talk she would say I am girly already since I am girl. My change of becoming more girly is finally feeling comfortable in the skin I am in. I have been stared at my whole life. This is not an egotistical statement; it just a fact of my life. I was born a strawberry blonde and I am african american. My mom always told me people would stare at me and some people actually thought my mom dyed my hair as a baby and child. Being stared at from birth made me extremely self conscious. I know most times people are not really rude and want to stare, but sometimes they can’t help it. Now, being an adult and a 6’1″ adult at that, I get stared at more. I would let that dictate my clothes and downplay everything god has given me. My friends and coworkers know this very well. So in an attempt to be more girly, my first step was to invest in dresses. Now while this doesn’t seem like huge to some, its huge for me. Dresses and I have never had a good relationship due to my legs being exposed. I used to get made fun of for having skinny or bony legs. Who wants to show those off with constant torture about them. But whatever, dresses and I will be best friends. I have even created an album on my FB page to show everything I am buying to help with this transformation. My friends and family have been extremely supportive and encouraging but I made this decision on my own for myself. It feels really good to be comfy in the skin I am in and having my clothes be very comfortable. The other change I have made is taking everything in relationships on a day-to-day basis. Because things change so rapidly these days, we sometimes get so caught up in the future, that we lose sight of the lil thing daily that make us happy. This is not to say that I don’t think of my future, but when dealing with other people, you have to realize sometimes your future is not theirs and they need to live their life as much as you live yours. I know these days I wake up happy and that is a huge plus for me. Though my job can be a pain in the butt, I don’t dread it anymore. The people I work with are like a second family to me. I am of course still working on keeping my very close friends for years cause these are part of my foundation. As I told someone recently, I am very happy for experiences I have had because it has helped me become the person I am today. I am looking forward to more changes and meeting new people and learning new things.
Draco Photography - Life and Times of Janine A 