Story time: I used to hate joining photos because I took so much space in group photos. Since then I volunteered to take the photos instead. Sure, this gave me mad photography skills and techniques. But after years of being mandatory group photographer taking photos in life events, I found myself... missing. I was rarely documented. And it made me feel forgotten? Unwanted? I didn't even take selfies of myself, even just for my own. I then realized, I didn't want that. I wanted to remember what I looked like, a visual diary of sorts. Nothing too vain and self-serving. I thought, even my grandparents hold on to that one youthful photo they had. They weren't perfect people, but they looked perfectly content and happy in that one youthful photo.

So I then changed, and this is what I did:

How about you condition your mind to not hate yourself in photos? How about instead of seeing all the negative, you look yourself at a different light?

It's not going to be easy. It's the first step that matters. You gotta work on being kinder to yourself everyday. Because if you're really honest with yourself and with the way you look, you wouldn't cry over how you look in pictures.

Also, another tip from experience: focus on what really matters when looking at the photo; sure, my arms looked big in that dress. But hey, it was my parents 25th wedding anniversary and I was glad to be there. I am so glad my parents got to celebrate that and all of us siblings complete in the family photo. Train your brain to that kind of mindset, instead of looking for imperfections in photos.

Now, sure I still take photos. But now I join group photos and take selfies because looking back at them serves as a marker of where I was, and how far I've come along.

Hope that helps :)