We live in an era where nearly everything we do is documented on the Internet, and I don’t mean that in a judgmental way, it’s just a fact. We post updates on our lives, tweet funny jokes, share edited pictures of ourselves having a blast on vacation, and so on and so forth. Social media is a tricky game; on one hand you can stay up to date and communicate with friends and family from anywhere in the world as well as make new connections. On the other hand, there is no better way to beat yourself down than to be looking at other people’s fantastic lives and compare it to your own overwhelmingly normal existence. I think it’s time we cut the bullshit and stop calculating our self worth in relation to what other people’s lives look like over social media.
At this very moment I have 350 posts on my Instagram account. With the exception of the occasional shout out to my dead dog, they are all smiley, positive and upbeat looking pictures of my life. If a stranger were to glance at my account, they would probably think I am a happy-go-lucky, puppy-obsessed goofball. While that is a fair and realistic assessment, that is only a 25% representation of who I am. Most of the time I am overly stressed out, binge watching The Office in my bed, and have an overwhelming amount of day-to-day anxiety. So why do I only showcase the happy, and sometimes even fake, part of my life?
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This is a picture I took off of my Instagram. It’s at the end of a trail I hiked over the summer. A beautiful picture on top of a gorgeous mountain on a lovely summer’s day. I’ll let you in on a secret: that was the most miserable, and only, hike of my life. I did not enjoy myself, I got bit by a spider, my sneakers were trashed and I am kind of afraid of heights. I posted that picture because I wanted to look like a cool, fit girl hiking up a mountain. I hope it worked. I hope people think I am cool, because God knows what I would do if people thought I was anything less than cool.
Truth be told, I’m a huge dork. I feel uncomfortable sharing some of my not so popular quirks on social media because of how the world will judge me. Last week I took a video of myself playing guitar and instead of posting a clip of me performing, I put one up of me messing up. I thought it would be more relatable and funny. I sacrificed sharing something I love to share something that I thought would get more likes.
In case you were wondering my self worth is valued at around 40 likes.
