What It’s Like to Pose Naked at 60

“Nudity is natural but not until a person accepts and loves who they are.” – Jolene Blalock

What’s it like to pose fully nude?

AMAZING!

LIBERATING!

Most of all …

WILDLY FREEING!

No one was more surprised than me at how comfy I have become in my own skin – and only my skin – at 60.

Of course, it helps to have a Dream Team, to build that confidence both outside in and inside out.

60 isn’t what it used to be.

60 is anything you want it to be.

I’ve shared before that the 60 Days to 60 Campaign and Photo Shoot were inspired by both a desire and a need. I wasn’t looking or feeling my best having been stuck at home during most of the pandemic. A challenging move, living in hotels for weeks on end, a diagnosis of COPD and my healthy lifestyle and routines had gone out the window.

My insides were screaming for some TLC while my outsides were looking a lot more squishy than normal.

What better way to force yourself to get into tippy top shape than holding yourself fully and very publicly accountable?

I do believe that if a woman has a dream in her heart, the Universe has all the goods ready to be delivered to make those dreams come true.

Keep in mind that I’m someone who could barely look at herself naked, let alone prance around nude in a studio with a photographer I was just getting to know.

Somehow, it was scary. It was thrilling. And fun. And wildly exhilarating.

I’ve been waiting to reveal the total nudes. Holding on tightly until now. Behind the scenes, so much went into creating these dreamy images. Kevin Steele, Photog extraordinaire, was definitely stretching his imagination along with his limitless creativity. One thing Kevin let me know ahead of time was that he wanted minimal editing, ie. very natural images without airbrushing. I was totally on board with his wishes.  Fortunately, he had the perfect environment for the shoot at St John Studios in Austin, TX. A sunlit loft with the coolest range of rooms to shoot made for the perfect backdrop. Kevin was experimenting with lots of moving parts on this shoot including special lights, lenses, fog machines, flowy fabric and ready and willing assistants.

Directly behind me in the image above is Jess deBen, my fabulous makeup artist and friend, holding onto one end of a chiffon drapery panel we cut in half. Mike, my Photog, is holding onto the other end. Together, they are swirling the fabric around, while Kevin artfully directs and Juan, our additional Photog assistant helps with lights and adjustments.

Who knew it takes a village to take your clothes off???

From my perspective, it was like watching a beautiful symphony in motion with Kevin firmly in control as the master conductor.

Now, keep in mind, since I’ve never posed nude, I’m simply playing around with poses. In other words, I’m a novice who has no clue what she’s doing! Part of my “homework” was studying nude photo shoots and experimenting with poses.

One thing I’ve learned over the years, the camera reads your energy. You can’t fool the camera. Whatever emotion you wish to project must also be generated inside of you – by you!

If you want to look confident, you must feel confident.

If you want to look sexy, you must feel sexy. Or, as Jacqueline DePaul says, “Be sure to fire up those lady parts!”

This crew was Kismet – the ideal team to help me to feel my most confident and sensual self. It was such fun to embody a Playboy vixen while exuding sensuality for the first time in my life.

A big part of my role was learning to move and sculpt my body for the shots so the images captured beautiful lines, artfully posed. As a first time “nudie,” I couldn’t have envisioned anything more beautiful than the final images.

My greatest hope is to inspire women to go for their dreams and desires – no matter what they are! They exist for a reason. Your dreams are a direct pipeline to your soul. If we get quiet enough and listen to our hearts and our inner knowing, we can feel our dreams. We can hear them talking to us, urging us, nudging us to believe we have the power to make them come true.

Dreams pull us forward.

Letting them go holds us back.

I’ll be honest that I didn’t know my dream was to do a nude photo shoot with a world class photographer. It wasn’t until I began tossing around ideas and landed on that one that felt so right. It felt scary. Exciting. Terrifying. And wild – at least for me.

The 20 year old me wasn’t in touch with her inner wild. She was too afraid to touch it. To feel it. To get to know it.

My “wild” was in there all along waiting to be let free.

My 60 year old Self has been through the fire and risen like a Phoenix. She’s all about pushing the envelope. She isn’t afraid anymore. Or, if she is, she doesn’t run from the fear. She runs straight toward it.

She doesn’t avoid the fire. She becomes the fire.

The truth is, as Glennon Doyle says, “We are fireproof.”

Yes, we are. What becomes the ashes, the parts that burn away, was never us. It wasn’t real. The truth of our being, our Authentic Self, is always fireproof.

60 is pretty damn cool. I want the whole wide world to know that age is a gift. Every moment on this planet is a gift. I won’t stop shouting it to the rooftops until enough of us awaken to see the beauty, grace, courage and strength found in the years at Midlife & Beyond.

My heart is busting with gratitude for my amazing team. Thank you to the phenomenal age defying fitness wonder, Kacy Duke, for kicking my butt and whipping me into shape in record time. Oh, and for making it FUN! And – helping me to tap into my sensual Goddessy Self.

Thank you to Jessica daBen Polish, the most impeccable makeup artist on the planet for glamming this every day girl up to the nines. I appreciate you more than you know. You’re a gift! You also have the patience of a saint and the artistic gifts of a true master.

And, of course, I couldn’t have made this dream come true without the phenomenal Kevin Steele capturing these incredible images that are way beyond my wildest imagination. Your artistry knows no bounds. I’m forever grateful to experience the magic you create with light and a lens.

Cheers Beauties! Here’s to Midlife, Magic, Miracles and Making Midlife Dreams Come True!