VSCO, Afterfocus, Snapseed, Enlight, TouchRetouch. These are only five of the hundreds of photo editing applications available at the touch of our fingertips that allow us to alter our realities in order to appear "appealing" to the crowds of followers and viewers on social media platforms. I wish I could sit here and tell you I have never downloaded one of these in order enhance the message my pictures give off, but that would be a blatant lie.

What happened to the days where we wanted to see people for who they actually are? What happened to the time when beauty was defined by one's character and personality instead of the size of their breasts and the amount of makeup they had plastered on their face? I want to live and grow in a society where I can feel free to leave my house with no makeup on and a messy bun in my hair and still feel utterly amazing regardless. I want to live in a society where a picture of me, my dog, and a tub of icecream receives more likes than someone's morning eggwhite omelet.

I would like to admit that I probably spend approximately 50% of my day on scrolling on some type of social media platform. Though I feel partly ashamed to admit this due to the fact that I am surrounded by an amazing world that does not exist on a screen, I cannot help but get lured into the posts of random people whom I will never encounter. This dangerous game that so many of us take part in starts by clicking on a profile of someone who has thousands of likes, then we start to investigate and envy.

We see their cute relationship and miraculous ability to wear some strange crop top that is questionably also a bathing suit, and all of a sudden we are sitting in our rooms wondering where we went wrong with our lives. They appear perfect in these pictures with flawless skin, shiny hair, and beautiful smiles that I begin to feel jealous of someone I literally know NOTHING about!

It is totally normal to compare your life to the lives of those around you, but it is pertinent to remember what we see on social media is usually just a mirage. People spend hours picking the perfect photo and editing it so that it encompasses the idea that they want their followers to believe. Next time you catch yourself in the mindless game of scroll and sob, just try to remind yourself that reality is not picture perfect and neither are we.