I found a photo of myself that I completely forgot that I had…..and it’s totally worth a short-and-sweet blog post!! 😃
For those who know me, wait ‘til you see!! You’re going to be so impressed with me and this once-in-a-lifetime achievement!! 🤩
But……did what, exactly?? 🤷🏻♀️🤔
Well, it almost sounds like I won the lottery or something, which I most certainly did not do! 🚫 Though that IS a once-in-a-lifetime win, for sure. And way more exciting than what I am about to reveal to you….so please keep your expectations to a moderate-to-average level! 😁
No, it is nothing life-changing or window-shattering or mind-blowing…and you KNOW that if anything comes up that is on that level of excitement, I will be sure to let you know!! 🥳 HOWEVER, it is still gonna be fun to show you and I hope it may surprise some of you in a good way!
So, aside from my knee injuries that have created quite a few dark spots in my life over the years, I am generally pretty smiley, energetic, and optimistic. I chose that path at a very young age because I liked how it made me feel and especially how it made the beings around me feel. It was way better than being angry and bossy and snotty – – which I was that way as a child for a VERY short period of time only, fortunately – – and I adopted a more positive mindset that spilled over into most of the areas of my life. And it totally stuck, forever more!
Now, smiling, bringing positivity, being energetic, greeting familiar faces, and rooting for the phenomenal beings in my world come very naturally to me. I can’t even help it, sometimes, because it’s all like an autopilot reflex! It’s just a part of me and what brings me happiness – – which I hope brings others happiness, too. 💕💕💕
With that being said, I have often been asked, “do you ever stop smiling?” or “could you go a day without smiling??” And then, if I do happen to be having a rotten day and my smile has dramatically faded, people most certainly notice! It’s like people are so used to seeing the smile, that they don’t know how to respond to a frown or a sad/mad face. Which I totally get!! A shift from positive to less-positive-more-negative energy can be very uncomfortable and awkward. But we all have those days, don’t we?? Even me! And it isn’t pretty when it happens, let me tell you…😟🥺
Anyways, here is the story!! It often became a joke that I could never be serious or that I could never NOT smile. And most of the time, people were absolutely right!!!! If I tried to remove my smile….you know, to prove people wrong….well, most often I couldn’t maintain it for long and I would end up laughing!
And then when it came to a serious or sultry-type photo???!!! Well, about 98% of the time I would look super angry or really irritated. OR I would have some type of a smirk on my face, look like I was about ready to laugh, look incredibly uncomfortable, or just look very unnatural!
I would have some decent moments – – like this time, when I decided that I would try to be Goth for Halloween and never smile for an entire evening!
And I did pretty well, actually – – and it kinda freaked my friends out! But even this pic doesn’t look so completely natural, does it? To me, I look like I could laugh at any moment, you know?! 😆
Two things seem to be very clear: #1) It takes effort on my part not to smile and to pretend to be super serious. #2) I was not made to be a model, since I clearly had trouble emoting the more serious emotions, rather than the joyful emotions!!
But is that latter part actually true??!! Wait for it…😁🎵
WELL, in 2010, I wanted to audition for cruise ships because that was my next dream job for dance. And since my first round of headshots were already 4-5 years old, I figured that I would need to have current headshots taken, in order to have a real shot at being selected.
So, I asked a wedding photographer, who at the time did not do headshots, if he would help me. And because he was thinking about adding it to his repertoire, he let me do a photo shoot for free just so that he could practice his lighting and his headshot photography techniques!! It was a win-win situation!!
And what an incredible photo shoot it was!! He shot a couple photos of me in dance poses and yoga poses AND he also took plenty of incredible headshot photos that I used for multiple cruise ship auditions. And it was one of his headshots that helped me to land my cruise ship gig with Carnival Cruise Lines!! 🎉💃🏻🎉
Now, as rewarding as that was, that is not what I am about to show you. 🛑 But I AM going to show you a particular picture from that photo shoot. A picture that I forgot that I had taken because I had never used it for any auditions that I had gone on for the entirety of my career. There was never a place for it in the jobs that I was going for….though now I look back and I wish that I had chosen an audition where I could have used it, at least once!!! Just for fun, to see what would have happened! Not a regret, only a curiosity. 🧐
Okay, okay, so here we go!! And in order to make the proper impact, we shall look at the levels of my “personality” in picture form.
Photo #1: We have the full-blown positivity personality – – where I am full of joy and delight!
Photo #2: The pleasant and more subdued personality – – a subtle grin or a smile with no teeth, that has a mirthful or playful quality to it!
AND NOW, Photo #3: Oh yes, THE picture from the photo shoot that actually shows me portraying the serious and sultry side of emotions, in a natural and believable way. The one-and-only photo that I have ever taken like this and who knows if I’ll ever be able to swing a photo like this ever again??!!
If you saw this photo on a billboard, would you know it was me???!! Super different than the norm, right??? And also totally honest and believable, isn’t it?? This photographer managed to capture me at the most perfect time, in order for this this photo to be possible. He was incredibly talented at photography, there is no doubt about that!
This is another one of those scenarios where the impossible actually can happen, even when you least expect it OR you’re not even trying to obtain it!! It just….happens!! 📸 Now, that is a message that brings me hope and inspiration!!
And now that I have found this photo, I now have proof that I can actually look believable in a non-smiley photo and totally pull it off!! Gotta take the wins when they present themselves, no matter how small, simple, silly, or random. 😁🤩😃‼️‼️‼️‼️