Behind the Screen

Why do we choose to be the person on the screen instead of the person behind the scene?

Social media has made it so easy for us to publicize the best part of ourselves through the Tumblr worthy pictures, the deep existential quotes, and the overt display of optimism and affection. But that's all those are: moments of our lives that don't accurately capture who we are in our best and worst moments. We are all humans that want to cry, binge eat our feelings, and scream into a pillow every now and then but the person that we give to the public is this overly adorned version of ourselves with essentially fake eyelashes, excessive foundation, and gaudy blush. But when we wipe that all off of our face and show who we really are, are we proud? Are we content with our real selves?

I understand; it's easier to present the best part of ourselves for judgment and criticism and there's nothing wrong with that. Social media should be a place where we can express the parts that we love best about ourselves. What I'm talking about is the point we reach when we begin to lie to ourselves and everybody around us and become the fake person online with the hundreds of shallow admirers: are we content at that point? Is that who we want to be for the rest of our lives? Gaudy. Excessive. Fake. Commercialized. Advertised. Dispassionate. Forced.

That's not us: so don't let it be.