A photo came up in my memories feed this morning. Fourteen months ago. I’m laughing at something, genuinely laughing, mouth open, eyes almost closed. I don’t remember what was funny. I don’t remember who took it. What I notice most is that I look like someone who isn’t thinking about how they look. Like the camera just caught me in the middle of being somewhere, not performing being somewhere. I stared at it for a long time. Tried to remember what that felt like.

I’ve gotten so used to preparing a face before any photo that I’ve forgotten what an unprepared face looks like on me. The one in the memory isn’t curated at all and that’s the one that looks most like me. More than any profile picture I’ve chosen. I miss that person a little. I don’t think she disappeared - I think I started watching myself too closely and she got shy and went quiet. Have you seen a photo of yourself from a few years ago and recognized something that’s been missing? What do you think happened to it?