Hi there, Loves!

Boudoir Pictures are like tattoos. It seems like everyone’s getting them.

But, why? And what is the BEST reason to take Boudoir Photos? Didn’t your mom warn you never to have naked pictures taken?

Well, if you do them for the right reasons, they cannot be used against you.

The best reason to have professional boudoir pictures taken is FOR YOU. When you get them for you, they take on deeper significance and empowerment.

Let’s talk about 3 purely personal reasons you might take boudoir photos:

1. Each step of the process requires bravery and vulnerability and those things = WINNING AT LIFE. There’s a sense of accomplishment that you did something scary, like jumping off a high dive or running a marathon.

2. Boudoir pictures place you and your body in an arena only “sexy” people can go, so your brain must wrestle with believing YOU are sexy. In the process of taking the photos, you will think about your sensuality and how you can see yourself as beautiful in empowering ways.

3. God sees you as “all beautiful” and these pictures are a spiritual exercise in believing Him. You act on the truth of your beauty and you have physical proof of your faith.

*****

Sit down, relax, and let me tell you a story.

Once there was a girl who didn’t like her body. She didn’t like the look of it. It wasn’t what she ordered. 

She tried and tried to love it and take care of it, but it never quite fit.  She’d all but given up, when one day she was reading and came upon a message that changed everything: 

“All beautiful you are, my darling, there is no flaw in you.”
Song of Solomon 4:7

You should know, she was a girl who believed in God – a God who created everything, including her. She believed this God made good things and loved her very much. If this was all true, then perhaps she was made well— without flaw, even. 

But she realized that she lived as if she were covered in flaws. Flaws in her skin, in her shape, in her size… even in the way she sometimes held her head crooked or had a double chin when she laughed really hard. 

What if she were ALL beautiful – without flaw? well, That felt absurd. But she sat with it and prayed, “Show me how you see me, God.”

And He slowly began to peel away the layers of lies.

I write about beauty a lot. I write about sex a lot. I write because that is how I process life. I write online because I have an artist’s heart and always hope my creations matter to one other human.

But it is not JUST writing or wishful prayer that changes me each day. It is in my habits {both physically and mentally}.

So, I do yoga. I even do this yoga when no one is watching. I allow sex to be both a physical and a spiritual practice. And I take big steps towards placing my own self into situations I would ONLY do if I believed I was beautiful. 

I take big steps towards placing my own self into situations I would ONLY do if I believed I was beautiful. 

Because I want to believe God and I want to be free.

We need to take action if we want to see change. We cannot go a different direction without taking steps. That’s called standing still. I wanted to MOVE into new ground. I was sick and tired of feeling bad about my body so I have been taking steps.

And now you know one major leap I took to help me see myself as a beautiful daughter of God.

Saying YES to a boudoir session with a sensitive, empowering photographer helped me take a major step forward in seeing myself as a beautiful woman. No joke. Those pictures are even more for ME than for my husband (and that’s saying a lot).

We will define boudoir pictures as: photographs where you are vulnerable, intimate, playful, sensual, and mostly undressed.

For me, Boudoir pictures are not just a fad or a fantastic gift for your Love. They are an active step toward seeing your own beauty. You are placing yourself in a situation that you would ONLY do if you were attractive and sexy… “without flaw.”

In the preparation, in the actual photoshoot, and then in the viewing of the pictures, I was confronted with the lies I believed about myself.

What were those lies? I’m sure you know your own well…

That I was not worth looking at “in that way.” That I was being ridiculous taking “this kind” of picture. That I was honestly really lumpy and unattractive and it is embarrassing that I’m trying to be sexy. That it would be hard for the photographer to get a good picture of this body. That my husband would have to lie and tell me these pictures look hot. That it’s better to hide myself than show what my body looks like.

But,

I placed myself in an immediate and safe situation where I had to stand up under those lies, and in faith develop eyes that saw my own beautifully created body and soul… eyes that see me as a well-made part of creation and to even be so brave as to see myself as attractive and sexy.  It was not easy and never will be…

BUT IT IS CHANGING.

Regardless of your relationship status; having vulnerable, beautiful pictures taken of you is a powerful tool towards seeing your own beauty.

In the next couple weeks, I will write more on how to prepare for a boudoir-style photoshoot, what makes a great photoshoot, how to get the best pictures, how to make the entire process a meaningful & even spiritual experience, and what my time was like with my photographer.

Also, P.S. Even if you never take professional “boudoir” pictures… even if you maybe just try to take a selfie today without hating it, that is a step forward. My friend Melissa Hawks at Bedlam Magazine takes rad selfies that make me jealous in the best ways.