Why You’re Already Enough
Embracing Self-Love on Your Journey and how a Boudoir Photography can Help with That.
Image by Elle Photography, Denver CO
So many times I hear the excuses before considering boudoir photography - I need to lose some weight first before doing a photoshoot, I don’t fit in my clothes or I don’t have anyone to gift these images to.
The simple answer to these and a plethora of other excuses comes down to self-value and thinking you are not good enough.
With beauty and fitness influencers in the palm of our hands, we compare and set impossible standards for ourselves, hoping that doing all these things and reaching these impossible goals that this will be the key to finally feeling like we’re enough.
But here’s the hard truth:
Even if you reached these goals and checked off every single box, you STILL wouldn’t feel good enough.
I know because I’ve been there. I spent years chasing that elusive feeling of being "enough." I hit the goals and reached the milestones, yet every time I looked in the mirror, I found something new to pick apart.
The hardest lesson I learned? You’ll never feel “good enough” when you reach those external goals unless you start believing that you’re good enough **right now**.
Why We Self-Sabotage
Think about it. Why does missing one workout or eating one “wrong” meal send you spiraling into guilt and self-sabotage? It’s because how you treat yourself reflects how you feel about yourself. If deep down, you don’t believe you’re enough as you are, you’ll keep moving the finish line, always thinking the next accomplishment will fix it.
Would you talk to someone you love the way you talk to yourself when you make a mistake? Of course not. So why do we think it’s okay to be so hard on ourselves? Is it really a “self-love” journey if we only feel worthy when we’re perfect?
The Turning Point: Learning to Love Yourself Where You Are
For me, the biggest shift came when I finally let go of those unrealistic expectations. I started embracing myself in the moment—even when I wasn’t “there” yet. Changing the narrative, instead of immediately pointing out my tummy I am saying to myself that I love my belly. I began telling myself, “I am enough, even though I haven’t hit my fitness goals yet,” and “I am enough, even on the days I don’t feel my best.”
And let me tell you, everything changed.
Where does Boudoir Photography fall into place here?
It is closely linked to the last point - the turning point. As a photographer, I take self-portraits all the time and believe me it was hard to look at myself at one point.
But then I started approaching my journey from a place of self-love instead of self-criticism, and my devotion to showing up for myself blossomed. And the funny thing is, when I let go of the pressure and truly embraced where I was, the results naturally followed.
But it wasn’t the external changes that mattered most—it was how I felt about myself inside. That’s where the real transformation happened.
Instead of sighing and pointing out my tummy - I would look at it and say aah what a cute tum you have. It is soft and it is part of you. I looked at it with a lens of love instead of distaste and I see that as huge progress.
You Are Already Enough
The next time you stand in front of the mirror, I want you to pause. Take a deep breath, and instead of focusing on what you think is missing, remind yourself: You are already enough. You are worthy, not because of the number on the scale, not because of how perfectly you fit into those jeans, but simply because YOU ARE YOU.
It’s time to stop measuring your worth by what you achieve and start embracing yourself exactly where you are. The journey of self-love begins with this simple truth: You are enough, right now, just as you are.
And the best part? Once you start believing it, everything else falls into place.
