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I’m having a baby. Well not really. I’m launching a book,
which isn’t quite as easy as having a baby (joke). The book, called Ride The Pink Elephant, is all about menopause and hormones – how you can go crazy and then find your sanity again.
Similar to having a baby, the initial conception of a book is the best part. Thereafter, the actual writing, followed by the publishing and promotion, are almost as hellacious as raising a troubled teen. I know this because I was one.
But I digress. Part of self-publishing a book is shooting the cover photo. This caused me no end of consternation until my friend, Marie P Anderson, took charge. Long a denizen of the modeling world, Marie coordinated the photography, makeup and hair, bringing in the superb team, succinctly known as, “j2,” or John and Julie.
Now before I tell you about the photo shoot itself, let me back up to explain, I’m someone who has mistaken fake eyelashes for mosquitoes, swatting them into oblivion. I might go to a nail salon at Wal Mart once every two years and have had two pedicures in my lifetime. I color my own hair considering as I do a trip to a salon as being worse than eating raw broccoli. I am, however, partial to spa days.
On the day of the shoot, I was a nervous wreck. I had to get my head around attending to all these things, and even the taxing problem of what to wear for the photos, which meant shopping (a barbaric form of psychological torture). Marie had instructed me to show with, “clean hair, clean face,” as she put it. For me, that manifests as “frizzy hair, blotchy face,” so I was quite a fright.
I entered the studio with trepidation. It was a huge, windowless room strewn with photo equipment, props, and a black painted backdrop against one wall. Marie made the introductions and as soon as I met John, (photographer) and Julie (makeup and hair), I calmed down instantly.
John is a tall, slim man with a languid voice that you lean in to hear. “Tell us about your book,” he said as he shook my hand heartily. I smiled at John and then at Julie, a pretty woman whose makeup and hair were, well, perfect. Then I launched into a mini-lecture about the book highlights, all the while noticing that John seemed more interested in menopause than Julie. When I finally stopped talking, John asked me if I’d interviewed any men for the book.
“Men?” I said stupefied. The question had caught me off guard. “Why?” I asked.
John went on to explain that some men have a very different perspective on menopause from witnessing their partners go through it. I was embarrassed to admit I hadn’t given it a lot of thought but said I would, especially since menopause had cost me a marriage. Once I had moved through mine and got back to a normal life, I realized I had left my partner behind. He had no idea how to deal with the emotional fall out and I had no idea what he was going through. So, sadly we wound up splitting.
Somehow Julie managed to get me into the makeup room. Before I could say, “testosterone,” she was
spraying my face with foundation, gluing on eyelashes, contouring my eyelids with shadow, and curling and spraying my hair. When I looked at the mirror, I barely recognized myself. I was ready for shooting.
Later that night, as I reviewed the shots at home, I couldn’t help but notice two things. First, I looked a lot older in the photos compared to the picture I had in my head of myself (which hadn’t advanced beyond me at twenty years old).
I saw something else, too. There was an expression of warmth and confidence in my eyes, a sense of playfulness and ease. That, I figured, had also come with age. A few wrinkles for being comfortable in your own skin? Not a bad trade off, I’d say. Still, a little retouching never hurt anybody, right?
© 2008 ZANTIUM LLC
BIO:
Everyone knows you only talk about sex in secret. Everyone but me that is. I’m Pamela Tames and you can hear more about my take on sex and the older woman at http://seasonedsex.com/. Who’s doing it, how they’re doing it, and what keeps them doing it. Now, for those all thinking, ‘that’s got to be one short website,’ let me respectfully say, ‘oh, so wrong.’ Just see for yourself.
Visit Pamela at her website:
http://seasonedsex.com
Share your own personal experiences with the EmpowHer community at https://www.empowher.com/share
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