Djuna Parmley Wilson

Daughter, sister, cousin, aunt, godmother, friend, widow and wife (again)…I became many things during my quest for acceptance.

Until recently, acceptance was my constant goal. I desired to feel accepted by my family, friends, coworkers, the opposite sex and especially myself.   When I was 23 I examined my life and decided to make a change.  After reflection, I realized that I was the problem because I did not love and accept myself. The Law of Attraction states that you get back what you what you put out.  I read voraciously, started hobbies that interested me and fell in love with myself.  I was finally on the way to being comfortable in my own skin.  I saw myself as a beautiful, intelligent woman who just happens to have a disability and use a wheelchair for mobility. I do not look like a magazine or television model and am not required to do so.

Sticky Fingers was one of the first places I felt genuinely accepted by others in DC – they made my first wedding cake. My first husband also used a wheelchair and had a number of health challenges. The bakery was the only one in the DMV that would and could bake a gluten free wedding cake.  As an interracial couple using wheelchairs, we usually garnered a lot of attention.  As I sat feeding my first husband wedding cake samples in the middle of the sidewalk in front of the bakery in DuPont Circle, no one stared, noticed us or seemed in any way interested in our presence. In that moment, I felt true acceptance by others, as just another human being. Sticky Fingers will always represent acceptance in my mind so I couldn’t think of a better place to be photographed for Bold Beauty.

Being at peace with you is the most beautiful thing in the world.