I’m so glad that this tiny note I scribbled has
been by far the most shared thing of mine on here.
We need to remove
this false perception of ‘perfect lives’ that so many of us are
comparing our own lives to. I’ll keep talking about this in the hope
that each time I do it’ll slightly adjust one persons outlook on
instagram or any other social media ‘thing’… because it’s not reality,
it’s so far from reality that actually it’s a bit weird. In the same way
that when I’ve had a bad day, and I’m walking down a busy street - I
find a tiny bit of comfort in the fact that I know at least one of those
people nearby is also having an equally bad or worse day/week than me -
When I scroll through instagram I have in the back of my mind that that
#throwbackthursday
could in fact mean they’ve had a really shitty thursday this week and,
well they’re not likely to post a photo of them crying so maybe that’s
an easier coping mechanism. Or that ‘take me back’ photo means they
really don’t want to be in the situation they’re currently in. This
sounds like I’m fully analysing everybody’s photos, I’m not! I guess I’m
just not taking every post I see literally and if I’m having a bad day
I’m not scrolling through and thinking “bloody hell she looks happy,
that’s not fair”.
We can literally write and post what ever the hell we
like and I’m sure the majority of us will have been guilty of posting
something positive when we’re feeling like absolute shite… That’s kinda
what social media is all about, and it's great most of the time. But
isn’t when you look at the flip side of it; Health issues, Family
issues, mental health, money issues… all of these things often happen to
the best of us and the crap we go through and way we deal with it is
what makes us human but I feel like social media adds fuel to the fire
sometimes. It can create an instant bitterness, jealousy or opinion
which your mind has literally just invented… because all you’re seeing
is a few snapshots of a persons life, which, for all you know could be
from a year ago. You don’t often know much about what’s happened in
between, it’s private and not something that needs to be shared with the
whole world.
So, next time you see somebody post about a new job or opportunity
maybe first think how hard they may have been working “behind the
scenes” to get to that point or next time you see someone traveling or
on holiday, remember that that break or time spent in the sun could have
saved their life. These are all pretty extreme but all very real that I
know for a fact have happened to me or people I know. Don’t assume that
even one of your closest friends smiling on an instagram photo means
everything’s hunky dory (definitely don’t use that phrase enough). In a
world where we should be so much more connected, we seem to sometimes be
totally disconnected with each other.
