The Social Media-Induced Idea of a "Perfect Life"...

Hey look, I do it too...

In today's society, we are so invested in our online lives, and our online personas. I know that I'm the same, so I'm hardly judging anyone here. I find it fun to take photos and adjust all of the little things on Instagram to make it look enhanced. My heart swells a little when someone likes the photo. It's fun. And that's exactly how it should remain. 

I overheard a conversation the other day about what Instagram photos should be deleted, which should be kept, and how their "theme" is going... Now of course it's perfectly fine to want your insta to look good, I'm the same, but there's a point you reach where you kind of stop just wanting to share your life, and it becomes something of a problem.

I see it most in Instagram as it's the social media I use the most, but so many people try so hard to make it seem as though their lives are perfect, at least on social media. I'm not saying that you should post a photo every time you break down sobbing, but let your social media be messy. Themes don't matter, just post what makes you happy. 

In the online makeup community, there are so many photos and videos of people covering acne scars, and tiny blemishes that you cannot even see. This is what I'm talking about - creating a false sense of perfect, not showing any flaws whatsoever. I fail to understand what's so wrong with letting a little spot show, and there are so many "hacks" to stop getting spots when - newsflash - it's part of life and part of growing up. 

People will post photos of insanely skinny models and call it "goals". Think of the little girls reading that who perhaps have a bit of puppy fat or don't have massive boobs and think of the negative effect on them and their self-perception. 
People on social media fail to show the negative aspects of their lives, fail to show that they're human, and us looking at that can be damaged by that. 

We all look at people online and see skinny bodies, massive muscles, perfect makeup, amazing holidays, and the list goes on. We look at them and see our lives as so much less, pointless, worthless, because we don't have these things. 

What we don't see is the working crazy hours to earn enough for that holiday, the gruelling hours at the gym to achieve that perfect body. Social media doesn't show the breakdowns, and the arguments and the hard work and effort that goes into someone's life. 

The solution to this problem to take everything you see online with a pinch of salt - you don't know how good the person is at editing, what they do when they aren't online. We need to stop comparing our behind the scenes with everyone else's highlight reel. 

Let yourself be real

Let yourself be messy, and free and laugh and have fun and put thoughts of likes and comments and followers out of your head. You have only one life, don't waste it all away wishing to be someone else. 

- Dottie x