The technical, aesthetic, and personal aspects of taking and editing self portraits for a new project, has been an exercise in patience and humility. A friend of mine and I were sharing time and critiquing recent photos of ourselves. Most of the criticism came down to what we saw of ourselves in the images. She stopped me mid-sentence and said, “no, we’re going to stop doing this. I want to age gracefully.” I reflected on this for the better part of the last week. So often we mourn what we believe to be lost. We reflect on the present by analyzing the past as a space where we’ve lost time, youth, opportunities, and people. In doing this, we lose the importance in what we’ve experienced in that same space. For the vision I’ve lost, I’ve seen things I couldn’t have comprehended when my vision was 20/20. My body aches because it has carried me through the good and bad, and has brought me to where I am. My skin has changed, because I’m changing. Sometimes I can’t remember names, dates, and details, but I’m constantly learning, experiencing, and gaining perspective. I’m aging, and there’s value in that.