Maven Maintenant

I’m old enough to remember Instagram’s predecessor (Hipstamatic - a fun way to filter and crop your digital images, framing them like vintage film), before it was acquired by Facebook, becoming the social and commercial behemoth it is today. What was once my parking lot for scrapbook memories has become the collective highlight reel of what we prefer the World to see (“PICS or it didn’t happen!”), generating virtual realities, false narratives, and edited agendas serving personal (private, corporate, even government) interests. Question is, how much discernment are you using when posting and consuming social media?

Like that print behind me, family doesn’t always make sense, but it’s uniquely beautiful when parts come together. Having a new experience with my mom this week - and she loved it! 🥰

I was 12 when I started doing my make-up (which at that time, included only mascara and clear gloss) but by the time I could drive, I was too self-conscious to leave the house without powder on my face, for fear of someone seeing me “undressed.” I went from a shy child to having uncontrollable social anxiety that was masked by cosmetics, exemplary academic performance, and later, s*x, drugs, and rock & roll. Plus ça change…

I’ve spent many years peeling back the layers, learning to hold gratitude and compassion for my inherent worth no matter how great my achievements or how miserable my failures. This is a daily practice, requiring renewed patience (never my forté), forgiveness, and Grace.

Today I enjoy getting glam as a celebration of my femininity, dressing up always feels finer, and I celebrate the happy, healthy life I’m creating for myself and others around me - not out of obligation or control, but from a place of joy. The most liberating feeling is being just as comfortable in my own skin - days’ old hair flying, running around in my PJ’s because this is The New Normal Times y’all and I’m here for it too. 🩷