Disclaimer: You may or may not relate to any of this. I’m just talking to my younger self, and you are welcome to eve’s drop if you like.
Instagram for example, is all about being happy, showing off luxurious things, travel pictures, holidays and gifts, pretty cafes and the list can go on and on and on. It’s all about prettiness. But life isn’t always pretty is it? No one wakes up pretty, no one can travel to his or her heart’s content without working hard. It’s just not served on a silver platter.
And then I recently came across quite a few people explaining that there was a major fight that broke out just before and after the happy family picture on Instagram grid was taken. Another one showed on her Instagram stories that she took hundreds of pictures that were 1 mm different from each other before she chose the best one. Another said he did it for the Gram. Yet another said she put on make up and did her hair before uploading her #IWokeUpLikeThis picture on Instagram. Someone uploaded a professional photo shoot picture that was filtered and airbrushed, saying she’s had a tough time -life is not all that easy and talking about keeping things real. Some over think before uploading anything to Instagram, worrying if the grid looks good, thinking if the picture would be worth putting up online, denying herself of the freedom of being whoever she or he wanted to be.
#Confession: It actually makes me feel better about myself when someone online says that life isn’t a bed of roses and they too have difficulties behind all that gorgeous make up, fashion, luxury, holidays etc.
It’s nice to see that all things on Instagram pretty and perfect. But is life really perfect? No, it isn’t. Not even for those who are perfect Instagrammers. Does someone else’s ‘perfect’ life make you feel insufficient? Zooming into Instagram, comparing pictures, planning a pretty grid, planning pictures, and making up activities for stories. #IAmGuiltyOfItAll and so are all of us at some point or the other. #PuttingYourselfThroughUnnecessaryPressure. (How I wish my hashtag game was actually this good while I’m thinking of some captions for Instagram!).
I don’t quite believe in jinxing or superstitions, but I’ve found myself to be extra cautions about what and how much I share I social media these days. From someone who uploaded every single picture on Facebook, I’ve now become the invisible one. I don’t talk about my travels, happy stories, success stories etc. And if I do share something, I go online from time to time to remind everyone who’s watching me that I’ve had my fair share of difficulties, as if in a way to remind people not be jealous of what I have.
I remember when I went to Dubai for 2 weeks last year as a wedding anniversary trip, I wrote a blog to share with everyone that it was my husband’s work trip that I tagged along, and I was sitting in my hotel room being sick, and that it took us an argument and grumpy cold shoulder from my part to take a nice “Anniversary Picture” for social media. This is just one of the examples. I recall doing this a few times, but don’t quite remember what exactly it is.
What’s the point of this random verbal gibberish?
I’ve come to the realisation that I should not need a reminder about one bad experience behind all the good ones. And someone else’s airbrushed picture shouldn’t change your perception of how life is for you. I no longer care about how I look like in pictures; hence I do not rush to look at the picture before it is uploaded to social media. I no longer care about scars and marks on my face, I no longer care if I cannot find the right angle that makes me look thin. I no longer care that I don’t take selfies anymore. I no longer seek validation in others’ #BehindTheScenes.
The irony of this is, while I’m writing this, my husband is sat next to me, zooming into his LinkedIn profile photo shoot that I did for him over the weekend, and complaining that he’d got bad skin, doesn’t look good, has pimples etc. All because the other LinkedIn profile pictures on Google are airbrushed. This is coming from someone who’s actually confident and never lets anything bring him down. It happens to the best of us sometimes.
#KeepItReal, without the airbrush, filters and photoshop. I may start a series for this soon.
