See Her Story Photo Challenge

It’s the beginning of a new week! Here we are! Last week I did a lot of talking about the See Her Story retreat and I know for many of you it’s a big deal to take the leap to sign up. I totally get that. It requires you to be bold and brave with your resources… your time, your money, your family… your self. I want to give you all the information you need (without ruining some surprises) to help you make your decision. This past weekend that meant sharing with you pictures of the house we are staying in on the retreat, so you can visualize yourself there. That alone got a couple of you signed up – I mean, it’s a GOOD porch yall. This week, it means a social media photo challenge to give you a glimpse at some of the creative self work I will be offering safe space for on the retreat… and a chance to win some fun stuff. Why prizes? Well I know from my all around health journey this past year that taking care of your self is the best gift and totally worth making the choice… but look, that didn’t click into place for me until now, so I am just putting some fun incentives out there to get you moving in that direction if you need it.Here’s what the challenge will look like:Wednesday August 16th - The Story of your BodyToday I would love for you to post a selfie that you LOVE of yourself. Selfies have a bad reputation. We think of stereotypical teenagers narcissistically taking a million pictures of themselves a day. But what I am talking about is choosing to see yourself. I hid out from my body for a long time. I was unhappy in my body for SO many years and those feelings of hating my body did not align with my ideals at all. So I just felt like I was out of control of my body and chose to ignore it. I woke up from that this past year and have made major changes in my life because of it that I am so thankful for. I don’t know where you are in your journey with your body but today, find a selfie you’ve previously taken or take a selfie that you love of yourself… OWN IT. It doesn't have to be a selfie, either. Any picture of just you. You can love it for just one tiny reason, or a hundred reasons. Doesn’t matter. You can share the reasons why or not. You don’t even have to explain yourself. Proudly share this selfie with us so we can see you too!At midnight on the 16th I will look through all the submissions under the hashtag, #seeherstorychallengeday1 (as well as #seeherstory and #seeherstoryretreat). Then I will randomly draw a name and announce the winner the following day (I will reach out to you and let you know that you’ve won!). Each prize matches the theme for the day so for day one, the prize is a Massage Envy gift card (this is a chain that is readily found around the country – if you win and one is not close by, let’s talk). A massage is truly a gift to your body!Thursday August 17th – Being Brave in Your StoryToday I challenge you to do a brave, hard thing and share it with us. You can share a photo of the actual thing, or a photo of a symbol or metaphor of that thing with your explanation. It can be the tiniest of things or the biggest of things. When it comes to choosing to be brave, it all kinda feels the same, right?? Maybe this means you say a thing you’ve been meaning to say, or do a thing you’ve been meaning to do, or breaking a habit, or buying a thing. I don’t know what you need to be brave about, but you do! Choosing to be brave means you are facing something that scares you a little… or something that you’ve done wrong in the past… so to share that means you are being honest with yourself, you are being vulnerable with all of us. This is HUGE! Let this being brave choice set you free!At midnight on the 17th I will look through all the submissions under the hashtag, #seeherstorychallengeday2 (as well as #seeherstory and #seeherstoryretreat). Then I will randomly draw a name and announce the winner the following day (I will reach out to you and let you know that you’ve won!). Each prize matches the theme for the day so for day two, the prize is a gift card to The Flourish Market (if you aren’t close by to the store, no worries, you can shop online). The Flourish Market allows women to shop with meaning through brands that support vulnerable populations in the US and around the world.Friday August 18th - Your Story and Your TribePost a picture of someone super important to you in your story. Go on and on about how much you love them and need them in your tribe. Tag them so they feel all the love. Don’t have a picture of that person? Post a picture of something that reminds you of them. While the current health journey I have been on has been about finally turning inward and taking care of me, I have constantly been reminded that I am not an island. In order to survive all that life throws at us we need people that we can circle around us. We also need to remember that we are not the only person that has ever experienced what we are going through. Isolation might feel most comfortable but in my experience the returns on being vulnerable and letting people in FAR outweigh the perceived safety of isolation. We are better together. We thrive in community. We need each other. I am all about showing MAJOR gratitude, so take this opportunity to love on someone really well!At midnight on the 18th I will look through all the submissions under the hashtag, #seeherstorychallengeday3 (as well as #seeherstory and #seeherstoryretreat). Then I will randomly draw a name and announce the winner the following day (I will reach out to you and let you know that you’ve won!). Each prize matches the theme for the day so for day one, the prize is a Massage Envy gift card (this is a chain that is readily found around the country – if you win and one is not close by, let’s talk). A massage is truly a gift to your body!*Things to know and thoughts and official rules and stuff:I encourage you to follow the hashtags each day and show each other some love! Make a new friend! Double tap on each image to show support! Comment to cheer each other on in this choice to be vulnerable and share of yourselves. When we are vulnerable we need the safety net of the love coming back to us from those around us. I will be posting each day too, as well as reminders the night before of what prompt is coming the next day.All time frames referenced in this challenge are east coast time zone. Prizes do not have a refundable cash value. To be eligible to win any of the prizes you must use the following hashtags on each post: #seeherstory #seeherstoryretreat #seeherstorychallengeday1 (or day2 or day3, respectively).Thank you for being on this journey with me. I am thankful for you! I'm cheering you on!Let’s tell some stories….Ashley