Unless someone can prove otherwise, I'm pretty sure this was/is the world's first naked self-empowerment book.
A few years ago I saw myself in the mirror in my apartment and I had an artistic vision, if you will: I saw myself, standing there naked, with a swirl of words around me. My body was showing the outside of me - while the words, the inside of me. After a summer spent drawing nudes, to no significant gain, this new idea felt like ... something. Something different. It felt electrical. And then I realized I had never seen this before, the male nude as both object and subject. The two things combined in one.
I was shaking nervous when I first put it out there, but I was deeply surprised when people started telling me what a profound impact the book and the images had on them.
Love Yourself~A Body of Work was born.
It took a long while to figure it all out, though. It was a ton of work, but I was very surprised by the response once I got it out. I was shaking nervous when I first put it out there, but I was deeply surprised when people started telling me what a profound impact the book and the images had on them.
Below is an ad I created for my book, which I like. But the great irony is that because this ad was posted on Facebook, I had to cover myself up. Which kind of defeats the purpose. This is just one of the many reasons I don't have a lot of love for Facebook. It forces adults to regress. Worse, it forces us to share Mark Zuckerberg's childish shame of the human body. Thanks, Mark.
Anyway, here are some images from the book itself ... In most cases, there is an image on one page, and an essay on the other. The book (surprising even to me) has a lot to say. You will notice, too, that there are various tones represented: I can go from solid self-confidence to playful self-empowerment. These are different sides of the same coin, and both things things are true for me. I think sometimes life can be very playful, and sometimes life calls for you to be a little more kick-ass ... well, because you have to.
One of my favorite songs is Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down." That should give you a pretty good clue about me right there.
Anyway, the book is my attempt to impart a really strong sense of self-acceptance by busting out of all my boundaries and borders (and also hopefully implying that there are ways you might be able to take some of that energy into your own life, too. Not just as a naked person - you don't have to be naked in the literal sense - but as an analogy for being a whole, silly, strong, heart-on-your-sleeve empowered person.)
So if you are interested, I offer a print copy as well as a cheaper e-book version for those on a budget. You can preview (and order) "Love Yourself ~ A Body of Work" from the menu-bar above.
OK, hope you enjoy!
~ Quest Barely, all!
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Kemson Cooper is the creator of QuestBarely.com, a site about using the body as a path to explore the Self. He is also the author / artist of "Love Yourself ~ A Body of Work" (perhaps the world's first naked self-empowerment book)