It's a completely natural impulse to make sure that your photos turn out as great as possible — but one body positive activist wants to remind you that you don't have to find the perfect selfie angle all the time.
Last week, Allison Kimmey posted a now-viral side-by-side photo compilation to her Instagram, showing her followers what she looks like when she accidentally opens her front facing camera, versus what she looks like when posing for a photo.
"Both of these are me," she wrote. "Undoubtedly. But years of brainwashing has me feeling like only one of these is worthy of being seen, appreciated, loved and showcased."
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However, she wrote, we shouldn't have to be conditioned into believing that we're only worth being seen when we're at our "best."
"The thing is, just like our bodies, we can't pick and choose to like some things and not others," she wrote. "The goal is a HOLISTIC self love...meaning I am learning to embrace ALL of me so that I can be at peace with every angle, crease, lump, bump, scar, roll and pound."
As she wrote, learning to love yourself means learning to embrace the things you've been taught to see as imperfections.
This isn't the first time Kimmey has opened up about accepting and loving her flaws. Last month she wrote about her experience explaining her stretch marks to her daughter in a Facebook post that went viral.
"It matters how we talk to our daughters about our bodies," she wrote back then.
Her new post however, shows that it also matters how we talk to ourselves about our bodies.
"The next time you open your phone and accidentally have your camera on and catch a glimpse of a double or maybe triple chin...just say 'hey girl you fine no matter what angle!'" she wrote. "And get along with your beautiful self. Just do you babes!"
There is no shame in pursuing the perfect selfie angle, or the perfect selfie light. But Kimmey's post is a reminder that you are worthwhile, and worth being seen — whether or not you're at your best.