Bek, celebrating 48 fabulous years with the Your Face, Your Story Project.
I received a beautiful email from the lovely Michelle in late June asking me if she could gift a place in the Your Face, your Story Project to a friend of hers called Bek. Bek had just had an extensive operation on her face for an aggressive and life-threatening BCC. Michelle wanted her to have something to celebrate the fact she had been through such an awful time and how brave she was. It continues to amaze me how many beautiful people are involved in some way in this project.
It turns out that Bek was keen to be part of the project and whilst I have met Bek once or twice I have never been able to sit down and spend some time with her which I did yesterday.
Bek is dealing with the shit storm that life can throw at us with grace, dignity and bravery. She struggles with being told she is brave but as I reminded her, we can’t always control what happens to us, but we can make a choice as to how we react to it and Bek is choosing to forge forward in a way that many people would be unable to choose. Her choices are incredibly beautiful and that is brave.
Bek is a complete warrior woman, and I am so glad she is part of this project.
Amongst the many things we talked about yesterday I asked Bek about why she wanted to be involved in the Your Face, Your Story Project and I adored her reply which was as follows:
“This was gifted from a friend. I never really thought I was interesting enough to be a part of this yet when I was recovering from the removal of an aggressive and life-threatening BCC (which left my face disfigured), I realised I had a story. I want to inspire women to love themselves scars and all and embrace their story. To be empowered by it not, ashamed of it. I want to be part of a group of women who love and admire themselves and are loud and proud of the gift of ageing however that may look. We need to celebrate beauty for what it really is, and it’s far more than skin deep.”
Another reason Bek wanted to be involved with to bring awareness to the realities of skin cancer and getting checked regularly and looking after your skin.
I am so looking forward to Bek’s shoot which we have scheduled for January. An incredibly beautiful way of Bek celebrating that fact that she is standing proud in her story. It will probably also be the last shoot of the 2024 Your Face, Your Story Project which is another reason for this shoot to be special.
The Your Face, Your Story Project is all about celebrating the lives of women over 40 and challenging the stereotypes of women and ageing. The project is now fully booked for 2024 and I look forward to sharing the beautiful faces and wonderful stories of 40 women over 40 in the coming months.
xxxLara
Beauty, hope, joy, & inspiration
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