LJI Week 2: My Mount Rushmore

[alycewilson]

Images of myself from April 2017, April, July and October 2018, becoming gradually more fit

Fourteen years, sculptors blasted and chipped,
suspended by rope. Four faces
emerged, blocky. Imperfect. Then, finally,
sculpted complete. At first, envisioned
as waist-deep portraits, their final form
became faces only. Faces hewn
into granite, formed by slow
crystallization of magma
beneath the earth's surface.

For fourteen months -- or more -- I've chipped
away my own granite body. My magma-formed
slow crystallization of eating emotion.
Imperfect. Blocky at first, but
gradually more sculpted. Chiseled forms
emerging from face to waist. Forming
a final portrait, suspended between
my vision and hope.

- October 14, 2018

This is my entry for LJ Idol, with the prompt "My Mount Rushmore."

Comments

[alycewilson]

Thank you! You above all other people can probably identify with the fact that sometimes, no amount of progress seems good enough. That's why sometimes it helps to be able to look at photos and see the cumulative effect.

FYI, I actually weigh 20 pounds more in the fourth picture than in the first one! Muscle really does weigh more.

[bsgsix]

Oh yes. I definitely identified with a lot of this for certain. Looking back and seeing the progress - even just the bolder look on your face - makes a WORLD of difference. I still look back at pics from when I was 200 pounds, compare them to the 124 pounds I am today, and notice just how much happier, youthful, and content I am. And it's not just the weight - it's the effort, and that I lived long enough to do it!

Honestly, I wouldn't have known you weigh more in that fourth picture. But you are so right about muscle. I'm really happy for you. I think you look radiant, and I KNOW you are putting in so much effort!