I was reading an article by Nell Frizzel's article in the March issue of Elle magazine (btw, I highly recommend getting the issue and it's not because my one true love Tom Hiddleston is featured in it...), and she was talking about selfies. Yep. Selfies.
Now, I do like a selfie now and then, and I know people think it's so narcissistic, and I can see that to an extent - you know, where someone's Instagram feed is basically just them pouting and using the hashtag #nofilter (we know you're using Valencia). But Nell Frizzel stated, and correctly, that people have been basically taking selfies for centuries. Obviously Instagram wasn't around when Van Gogh was gracing the planet, but did he not draw a self portrait? Self-ie - aha.
Let's be honest, we take selfies when we look good, and when we look good we feel good, and we want to share that with the world, because why not? We constantly see pictures of good looking people everywhere we go, they're basically rubbed in our faces, so why shouldn't we plaster our beautiful faces under the #selfie archives of Instagram? They're a way of self-celebration if you think about it, we're comfortable enough to put ourselves out there; I always feel uneasy before posting a photo of my mug but I go ahead and do it anyway because 11 likes or 100 likes, at the end of the day it doesn't really matter how many people double-tapped. I post because when I look back through my Instagram and I see that selfie I see how happy I look and I probably had a good day too.
I love seeing selfies for many reasons, firstly, I love seeing happy faces, secondly hello, the make up! Thirdly I'd rather see a normal person looking beautiful and happy (with maybe a filter, I don't really care) rather than someone who has no relevant to me looking flawless because they've been photoshopped to no longer resemble that of a human looking like they need to go to a session of puppy therapy.
Now, onto other photos that aren't selfies, food, places we've visited, concerts, hauls - why do we take these? Because we did something fun and awesome and we want to share! I love photos, I love creating and seeing memories being created in front of me. Someone went through my Instagram feed and said 'Doesn't this make you depressed? Seeing all this stuff you can't have?' - err, no, it's four huskies that actually makes me very happy, no, that's a beautiful bag I like and will consider purchasing in the (distant) future. I just found that ridiculous. We share because sharing is caring, mate. If going through Instagram makes you feel depressed, then there are some immediate issues you may need to sort out, I'm no psychologist but hey.
Nell Frizzel mentioned something along the lines of going out to do things just to take a photo and share it online, and I have to confess I do that too. But it's not a bad thing, it's actually the opposite, it's giving me the drive to do things and do different things. I have the urge to explore more, see more, taste new things, dance to new music, meet new people, try new things.
In 60 years time, I want to go through my Instagram or photo albums and see amazing things, I want to know I lived life and I took selfies when I looked good, and when I'm 79, I'm going to take yet another selfie and post it on Instagram and it shall be stored under #hotoldieselfie.
Wow, what a ramble, and if you read this then thank you, you are awesome. Hope you're having a good Sunday!
-Kiran xo
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