perfectly imperfect

I've already learned a few things in my brief foray into portrait photography; a little about photography and a little about life. One thing I've noticed that's especially interesting to me, is that while photographing someone else, it is extremely easy for me to respect, and even admire, the "imperfections" and signs of age that they wear on their face. They add so much character and portray a person's story, in a subtle way. Yet when I look in the mirror, and see these same changes in myself, it's with nowhere near the same level of admiration. And I don't think I'm alone in this. I'm not sure if it's a cultural thing, or a personal thing or a bit of both, but I think it's fair to say that I, and likely we, can be a bit more gentle with ourselves.
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"You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection."
-Sharon Salzberg