As I looked on Instagram this Father's Day, my feed was filled with pictures of my friends and their fathers. It was very cute to see pictures from their childhoods and read the meaningful captions, but I still had no desire to post a photo with my dad. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't because I don't appreciate him. It really just came down to the fact that my dad doesn't even have an Instagram account. He would have no way of seeing the photo and the loving caption I had put so much thought into. Instead, I decided to put all of my effort into actually spending the day with him and showing him how much I love him.
By posting pictures of our fathers, the holiday has turned into a little bit of a competition. You know, who can post the best picture? And if you don't post a picture at all, does that mean you don't love your father as much as everyone else? No, because my father means more to me than 100 likes on an Instagram picture ever could. By posting pictures, we are being a bit selfish, because as the number of likes rises, so does our self-confidence. It helps to prove that others are aware of how we feel about our fathers.
But when it comes down to it, the holiday is meant to be a celebration of your father to honor all of the things he has done for you. This celebration should be something your father can actually enjoy, because I'm sure many of our fathers would not be hugely appreciative of our popularity on Instagram. There's nothing more truly meaningful than taking the time to put away our phones and really give our fathers the day they so greatly deserve.
The best way to spend the day is by doing what would make your father happy. I'm sure for most of us, that would just mean telling them that we love them and taking some time out of our day to spend time together. The instant gratification of social media likes is incomparable to the smile on your father's face when you make memories together. While the social media post may stay online forever, the time spent together stays in our hearts forever. And in the end, the feeling in our hearts is what's really unforgettable.
Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!
