How to smile Pretty?

It has been gently mentioned to me that perhaps a photo with an alpaca is not quite appropriate for a professional writer. So, I’m getting my headshot taken this week.

Photo shoots used to be a common part of my life when I was an actor. It was never something I thought twice about. It was simply an aspect of my job and I did it as readily as someone else might attend the Wednesday morning staff meeting.

But now that I’m retired from that line of work and it’s been a solid decade since I’ve been in front of a camera that wasn’t also a cell phone – I’m nervous.

When I left L.A, I stopped thinking about if my body was camera-ready. I wonder if I’ve lost my photo shoot skills. Now, I smile too big, making deep wrinkles around my eyes and showing too much of my teeth. I can’t remember which is my “good” side. I stand funny and allow my severely duck-footed feet to point at their absurd angles. I forget to pluck my eyebrows and can never shave my knees properly.

I don’t want a perfectly idealized photo of myself. I don’t want to be airbrushed to look 10 years younger than my real age. I’m a 34-year-old writer. I have really dry skin and my hair is unruly. And all that is okay.