Yikes! Television.

I started the Body Image Week Challenge doing something that I've been really afraid of: appearing on television. I'm known to avoid cameras so combining a camera with the potential to say something stupid…well, yikes!

Double yikes when the reporter asked me to bring high school photos. I hated the way I looked in high school! Reluctantly, I trudged down to my basement to find my old box of Reno High stuff. So many memories flooded my brain as I sifted through old pictures, notes, posters, newspaper clippings…. But the thing that struck me like a punch: I liked the way I looked. What had I been thinking? Why had I spent so much time and mental energy obsessing (negatively) over my appearance? I ran upstairs and called my mom. “Why did you let me hate my nose in high school?” I demanded. She was like, well, I tried. You’re pretty stubborn, blah, blah, blah.

Back to the interview: keeping the Body Image Challenge in mind, I looked at myself in the mirror yesterday morning and simply smiled. I refused to fret about my hair, makeup, weight, glasses, wardrobe or nose. I was just going to have fun.

And I did. Sure, I started out kind of nervous (there was this huge black camera looming in front of me). But like all good writing, television is edited. The best part turned out to be a surprise visit to The Cake and Flower Shoppe where I met my old boss. Even though I’d only worked there for three days, she remembered me and loved that I’d written a book inspired by that awful, awful day (I wrecked a delivery van and a wedding cake). We laughed about the whole thing!

So I guess the lesson for me (and maybe I’ll actually learn it this time) is this: things are never quite as bad as they seem when you’re mired in the moment. Turns out that bride got her cake in plenty of time!

Much thanks to Erin Breen at KTVN channel 2 in Reno! If you’d like to see the TV story click here. You can also read my guest post for the Body Image Week Challenge at www.myfavoriteauthor.blogspot.com.