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Description

This is going to be my new Profile I.D. for a while, partly because I'm in need of a new one, and partly to support June's Pride month in general and here on dA, and mostly because I DO like it as it shows a time where I am bold enough to be most comfortably a big part of me.

That means, that while it will be a new I.D. it is NOT a collage of NEW photos at all. Rather, it is a collage, from a photo shoot, done in September of 2008, in Santa Cruz, California, shortly after having my hip-length hair chopped all the way off. I LOVED that I did that.

Here are two of the photos from that shoot, which I had uploaded to dA, shortly after they were taken:

I can't believe, I had only been on dA for 6 months at the time, and mostly I can't believe that this was 11 years ago.

SO MUCH can happen in such an amount of time. (So much can even happen in a week!)

And, it's more than the hair thing... because I did grow it back out. I won't let it get to my hips again, and I keep it trimmed at just about waist length, sometimes shorter. I used to be so afraid to touch it, or cut it, and when I finally just made the move to chop it, I felt free in so many ways. One I realized it's just hair, which even though now it's long again, I cut on it all the time by myself, the sides are layered, so it's actually not as thick over all... I trim the bottom all myself, and I don't even care if it's straight or looks overall professional. I can't afford to get my hair done professionally anyway, so who cares- in fact, this chopped cut here was the first time since I was a kid, that I went to a professional salon.

But now I'm just like whatever... about many things- I don't mean I don't care... I mean that I'm more laid back and freed in a lot of ways that I feel are important, beyond "hair" - which was (is) just very symbolic in all of this.

I also uploaded this Retro collage, for another very essential reason. Sometimes you do have to "go back" in order to move forward. There can be things we've missed, for one thing. And it comes up in the present when we least expect it. OR, you think you are over something deeply challenging that's happened, and something triggers it all again in the present, and you're all upset because you're thinking, "What??? I thought I had already dealt with this SH*T by now!"

I have learned to give myself a break. It's NOT like I hadn't dealt with whatever it is. Of course I worked super hard to process through certain things. It's that, in a different time and place in my life, things come up in different ways... there are so many facets to trauma and difficulties, and our minds often compartmentalize things in the tiniest ways that we could imagine...

and as we really DO grow and change while we move through our issues and move onward, we are sometimes met unexpectedly face to face with something from the past. We get understandably frustrated at first, but if we take a step, we realize that we are definitely in a new light with it, that we've come a long way, that we've learned about the tools we need to do some work again, and it doesn't take as long. We are supported by our own experience.

And it's okay if things do come up in new ways. The past is part of what has made us who we are, and as long as we have chosen the path that goes forward instead of the downward spiral, that holds us completely back in the past, we will continue onward, and deal and heal some more as necessary, and become more and more of who we are meant to be.

No worries, if none of this didn't come out right, or just makes absolutely NO sense to anyone. I mostly wanted to write it for myself, to go with this little Retro_Tea collage.

Thank you... each one of you here on dA, who have been a part of my journey these last 11 years here on dA. These 11 years have meant so much more to me, and have helped so much more considerably because of the beautiful people I have met through this site. I am grateful I have had you all along the way, more than any words, could EVER say. Many Blessings to each one of you, as you travel on your own journey.

~~~~~~~~~

[ NOTE: Thank you, in advance, for any 's I may receive for this image. I am honoured and grateful that anyone would think well enough to it. So thank you from the bottom of my heart . I understand if you don't have time to comment, but thank you for any kind comments, too. It's important to know this NOW, as I may NOT be able to do individual thank-you's for 's, or in case I cannot respond to each comment, either. Thanks for understanding. And, if you just came to view, I appreciate that, too.
]

************
Respect � Tea Photography.
ALL work produced by Tea of � Tea Photography is protected, and shall NOT be reproduced, altered, or used in ANY kind of way.

Description

This is going to be my new Profile I.D. for a while, partly because I'm in need of a new one, and partly to support June's Pride month in general and here on dA, and mostly because I DO like it as it shows a time where I am bold enough to be most comfortably a big part of me.

That means, that while it will be a new I.D. it is NOT a collage of NEW photos at all. Rather, it is a collage, from a photo shoot, done in September of 2008, in Santa Cruz, California, shortly after having my hip-length hair chopped all the way off. I LOVED that I did that.

Here are two of the photos from that shoot, which I had uploaded to dA, shortly after they were taken:

I can't believe, I had only been on dA for 6 months at the time, and mostly I can't believe that this was 11 years ago.

SO MUCH can happen in such an amount of time. (So much can even happen in a week!)

And, it's more than the hair thing... because I did grow it back out. I won't let it get to my hips again, and I keep it trimmed at just about waist length, sometimes shorter. I used to be so afraid to touch it, or cut it, and when I finally just made the move to chop it, I felt free in so many ways. One I realized it's just hair, which even though now it's long again, I cut on it all the time by myself, the sides are layered, so it's actually not as thick over all... I trim the bottom all myself, and I don't even care if it's straight or looks overall professional. I can't afford to get my hair done professionally anyway, so who cares- in fact, this chopped cut here was the first time since I was a kid, that I went to a professional salon.

But now I'm just like whatever... about many things- I don't mean I don't care... I mean that I'm more laid back and freed in a lot of ways that I feel are important, beyond "hair" - which was (is) just very symbolic in all of this.

I also uploaded this Retro collage, for another very essential reason. Sometimes you do have to "go back" in order to move forward. There can be things we've missed, for one thing. And it comes up in the present when we least expect it. OR, you think you are over something deeply challenging that's happened, and something triggers it all again in the present, and you're all upset because you're thinking, "What??? I thought I had already dealt with this SH*T by now!"

I have learned to give myself a break. It's NOT like I hadn't dealt with whatever it is. Of course I worked super hard to process through certain things. It's that, in a different time and place in my life, things come up in different ways... there are so many facets to trauma and difficulties, and our minds often compartmentalize things in the tiniest ways that we could imagine...

and as we really DO grow and change while we move through our issues and move onward, we are sometimes met unexpectedly face to face with something from the past. We get understandably frustrated at first, but if we take a step, we realize that we are definitely in a new light with it, that we've come a long way, that we've learned about the tools we need to do some work again, and it doesn't take as long. We are supported by our own experience.

And it's okay if things do come up in new ways. The past is part of what has made us who we are, and as long as we have chosen the path that goes forward instead of the downward spiral, that holds us completely back in the past, we will continue onward, and deal and heal some more as necessary, and become more and more of who we are meant to be.

No worries, if none of this didn't come out right, or just makes absolutely NO sense to anyone. I mostly wanted to write it for myself, to go with this little Retro_Tea collage.

Thank you... each one of you here on dA, who have been a part of my journey these last 11 years here on dA. These 11 years have meant so much more to me, and have helped so much more considerably because of the beautiful people I have met through this site. I am grateful I have had you all along the way, more than any words, could EVER say. Many Blessings to each one of you, as you travel on your own journey.

~~~~~~~~~

[ NOTE: Thank you, in advance, for any 's I may receive for this image. I am honoured and grateful that anyone would think well enough to it. So thank you from the bottom of my heart . I understand if you don't have time to comment, but thank you for any kind comments, too. It's important to know this NOW, as I may NOT be able to do individual thank-you's for 's, or in case I cannot respond to each comment, either. Thanks for understanding. And, if you just came to view, I appreciate that, too.
]

************
Respect � Tea Photography.
ALL work produced by Tea of � Tea Photography is protected, and shall NOT be reproduced, altered, or used in ANY kind of way.