For the longest time, I have avoided lenses like a plague. It is not uncommon to find me missing in group photos taken that actually needed to be graced by my presence but sadly were not. However, not so long a go, I fell in love with photography and made it my therapy for this lonely and uncertain season.

I was going through my gallery as part of my self- prescribed photography therapy and one particular screenshot got my attention. In these times, a screenshot is such powerful a weapon that it can be used and has been used as evidence to break marriages and destroy relationships ( if you know what I mean🤣) or a tool to drag your name in the mud. This particular screenshot, however, was a plan of a friend’s ruracio( kikuyu traditional bride price paying ceremony). The ruracio was to take place late this year and it is my earnest prayer that it still takes place as planned because I had invested heavily into the occasion. Only elderly men are around on the discussion table and being the darling friend I am, I had to help with the negotiations. The end would justify the means.

How, you may ask? Get a mustache and beards, attach it to my rather too smooth chin, get one of those huge round hats, a walking stick , an over-sized suit to camouflage my endorsed derriere, maybe a pair of sharpshooters and add a few grey hair. That look plus my eloquence in the kikuyu language is plan enough to make sure my friend’s fiancee, to say the least, is indeed the highest bidder.

Back to my self-prescribed photography therapy. I call it a therapy because looking back to photos of me taken earlier this year, helps alleviate this loneliness, and at times make me doubt my mental stability🤣. Earlier this year, I embarked on a mission to love the lenses. Not because I had a reason to, but because I just realized my phone had such a good camera and I was putting it not to good use. Armed with a phone camera and a smile, I started my photography journey🤣 or should I say my selfie taking obsession. Every moment I got, I tried capturing it in it’s most real form and of course discretely least someone questioned my sanity and now I can say I am enjoying those few moments I lost my mind and took a selfie of my eyes wide open, tongue out and my lashes telling a tale of their own.

For the sole reason that the internet may never forget my clown-looking face and ironically remember to show it up once my future boss runs a background check on me, I will not share those photos on this site( because it has my name all over it🤣). But be on the look out, I’ll be sure to share them as discretely as I took them, somewhere the internet will definitely forget.

Photography therapy is a type of art therapy that basically helps soothe the mind. I decided to look it up on….Google( where else🤣) and for a second I almost got a heart attack. Blame it on the lazy mood that is hovering over me this whole time😪, because I i typed photo therapy instead of photography therapy and yes the answer I got was not what I was looking for. Photo therapy is a medical procedure that involves exposure to fluorescent light bulbs or other sources of light like halogen light or sunlight and LED to treat some medical conditions. Exactly what I was not looking for. After taking in a deep breath and typing out exactly what I was looking for,( taking note of even the word spacing 🤣), my expected search result pops up on the screen. Photography therapy is taking, analyzing and using photos for the procedure of personal healing and growth and understanding. It is a means of expression and a way of communicating thoughts and feelings. This definition is definitely a copy paste from Google but here is my definition- photography therapy is something you should try.

In one of my weirdest dreams, I thought about buying a camera and exploring nature and everything it has to offer ( exploring people might need a legal permit and a hard heart to persevere what you unearth😪). I love nature, especially the sky in it’s blue glory, so the thought was appealing by then but I woke up and reality hit hard; I am still a student who relies 99% on my allowances from my parents and anything extra is better in terms of a new hoodie or a pair of shoes. I couldn’t get an expensive camera but I had a camera on phone( the clarity is a story for another day) but a broken screen gives an edge to the photos anyway. That’s the first part of the definition, taking photos. The funnier the photos, the better they’ll serve to soothe your mind some day. Place your phone against a wall or just a stable ground maybe a table, set the timer, go behind the lens and be you; raise your hands, stick your tongue out, roll yours eyes, kick your feet, shake your bum-bum. The floor is yours, capture those moments.

Step number two is analyzing the photos. Have I mentioned this is like my favorite part. I just love it when I discover that my eyebrows are not actually similar and one has more brows🤣🤣 or when I discover that I do have dimples(forced ones of course). Seeing my goofy self makes me forget for a moment that I have been stuck in the house for the last 3 weeks or so. If your photos are not appealing enough( but why shouldn’t they be🤔), have you heard of Pinterest. Just google what you want to see; cute cats, birds, food, rivers, waterfalls, clothes….literally anything and you’ll be granted the honor to view photos taken by some of the best in the field. Staring at what you love has a magical way of driving away any sad or depressing thoughts.

Photography therapy is just but one of the few modes of art therapy that can actually help alleviate sadness and loneliness. Art therapy is basically using art as a means of expression to go through a particular situation. Art therapy can be in any of it’s form; music, dance, painting, photography. A way to escape reality for just a second. For me, selfie photography( if such a thing exists🤣) is working the trick. Whether I am in my sleeping hair net or my favorite ankara head wrap, I’ll take that selfie and drag my environment to it. Because one day I’ll be feeling low and I’ll fall back to that selfie and feel a little bit better knowing there is a goofy me somewhere deep down who just needs an absent audience to show up.

I know you are not busy, so that’s not an excuse. Try photography; taking or analyzing photos and you will fall in love with the lenses if you haven’t already.

With the powers given to me as Faith_daktari, I prescribe a daily dose of two selfies for the rest of your life. This dosage can be up-regulated when need arises and if addiction slowly sets in 😉.

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I was going through my planner of the year 2020 and for a second I laughed🤣🤣. I laughed at how I had envisioned an entertainment filled March, a fun filled April before getting a little bit serious in preparation for my end of year exams in July. 2020 must have looked at that plan and laughed, like really hard. Whoever said we make plans and life laughs hard must have foreseen the future. In particular this times. All plans cancelled, I am staying at home staring into the uncertainty that this is year is. One question in mind; for how long?

This cloud will surely pass and we’ll be back to our normal lives sooner. However, that will only happen if we follow all guidelines and stay safe.

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