Do you have an Instagram? I do and I LOVE it! First of all, whoever invented Instagram is a straight up genius! A picture says a thousand words and to share those along with as many characters as you want is GOLDEN! Add Instagram stories – pictures/video available for only 24 hours before it disappears -, Instagram live, the ability to “follow” famous people and you have my favorite app that I love to waste time one.
Now, let’s be honest. Have you ever lied on Instagram? Oh, you don’t know what that means? Let me explain. Have you ever taken a picture of the fabulous dinner you just made and plated perfectly but your kitchen looks like a tornado rolled over your counter? Have you taken a photo to feature something you really love but the rest of your house is a disorganized mess? You know those optical illusion photos that your life is perfect and you are living the dream.
Well to be honest, I’ve done that. That’s probably 75% of my feed on the Gram; the other 25% is quotes. I’ve for sure done the dinner plating thing and almost every photo plugging something I like is in a moderately messy house or car. My featured photo gives that perfection illusion. The truth is my kids were playing nicely and they really do love each other. The lie is that you can’t see how messy our counter or kitchen table is. It’s a constant mountain of papers. I went back to find the “unedited” picture that shows my unkempt counter but I couldn’t even find it. The convenience of zoom. 😔 That’s how much I “lie” on social media. I can’t even find a photo to support my point. Also, I was SO TIRED when I took this picture, like the coffee is not strong enough tired, is it safe for me to operate a motor vehicle, tired. My daughter only started sleeping through the night less than a month ago but this was still in the depths of sleep deprivation. Things a photo of two adorable nuggets won’t tell you.
It’s so easy to make yourself and your life look a certain way through a filter or by focusing on a certain subject with your camera. It’s also easy in the age of social media to compare yourself to someone else by what they are tweeting or sharing on Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook. The desire to keep up appearances has definitely risen in me from time to time. Everyone else’s life looks so perfect and I want mine to look that way too. But as Lysa Terkeurst says in her book The Best Yes, “Perfection is an illusion”. Surprise! Everyone has problems and issues they must live with, walk through and hopefully overcome. Not just me. I don’t want to be killing myself over being a “liar”.
So I’m not saying don’t take these kinds of photos and post them. I will still take playtime pictures of my kids [because they’re so stinkin’ adorable] with my dirty house conveniently not in the photo. What I am saying is don’t stroke out and compare yourself to anyone else. Everyone has to deal with issues and nobody is perfect.
Have you ever “lied” on Instagram or any social media platform? Want to share your story? Comment below!