Instagram Reality
Next time you find yourself scrolling through someone’s Instagram feed and feeling envious of their ‘perfect’ lifestyle, it would do your mental health a whole lot of good to realise that its not a true reflection of someone’s life — no one is THAT happy!
Even the most novice user quickly learns to curate and share only the best bits of their lives.
At its most innocuous, its a happy snap capturing a genuinely happy moment whilst on holidays or amongst a good time out with friends or family. At its most obnoxious, its staged content for the sole purpose of seeking validation to feel good about ourselves.
We’ve all oscillated between the two extremes, lets be honest. Hell, even I get envious of myself when I look through my past posts on Instragram at times. I’ll take what he’s having please!
But behind the perfect smiles, fabulous holiday backdrops, glamorous nights out, fine-dining meals and zen-like workouts, its easy to forget that there is a real person going through their own challenges and turmoils, just like you and I.
Instagram makes you worry that everyone is perfect — except you.
Its no wonder why its hard to reach out to someone when you’re feeling down — seems almost impolite to burden someone with your troubles when they seem to be always having such an amazing time.
This false reality we continue to perpetuate and see perpetuated makes us suffer in silence, without realising that everyone is probably feeling what you’re feeling as well.
The silver lining with Corona and its rolling lockdowns is that it forced me to reach out to friends and family to stay connected.
What I find interesting is that there is one common thread that links every story I’ve been privy to hearing. While the subject is interchangeble — relationship, career, parenthood, the choices they’ve made in life, what drives their stress, anxiety and sleepless nights is the underlying fear of failure.
The amount of emotional abuse or self-criticism we allow to happen to ourselves is so toxic to our mental and physical health, and its hard not to inevitably compare your life to others and feel sorry for yourself, especially when you perceive everyone else’s life to be perfect.
But you are not alone in feeling not good enough, not worthy enough, not deserving enough…
In this connected age of social media, its easy to feel more disconnected than ever. But scratch beneath the surface and you’ll realise that everyone is battling their own demons in some way, shape or form, despite what their Instagram feed conveys.
Pick up the phone, have a coffee catch up, connect by disconnecting. Shared vulnerabilty is what connects us and allows better understanding of each other and ourselves. You owe it to yourself — no one deserves to suffer in silence.
