Yup I’m a liar. And let’s be honest: so are you.
You know who the biggest liar of all is? Its Instagram. Followed closely, in my humble liar liar pants on fire opinion, by Facebook.
So many people lately have been saying things like “oh wow you’re so lucky, ur life looks amazing, I wish I could go on all the adventures you go on” etc. And it makes me feel damn good to be honest. The lies are working! But there is always that little voice in the back of my head that whispers “oh for gods sake just admit that you were lying in bed this morning when instagram was telling the world you were up a mountain”. But I don’t, I smile and nod and let the lie do it’s work.
Lately I’ve been starting to feel differently though. Would people prefer to see pics of me lazing in bed/sitting in a van on my lunch break/so sunburnt I can’t bring myself to leave the house? God no! So I don’t show them that. I take a good pic and I share it and instead it looks like I hike mountains all morning, swim in turquoise waters all day and drink cocktails in hammocks in the evening when in reality I get straight into my pjs the second I’m in the door and eat chocolate under a blanket with my dog who has terrible gas.
(Yup, no lies, wanna see a pic of that…? Didn’t think so…!)
The thought that my instagram lies would make someone feel bad about their life makes me feel so unbelievably sad. The truth is I look at peoples Instagram and I get jealous too, which is crazy because I know that it’s all a lie. However some people don’t understand that we are all liars.
Do I do fun stuff; yes absolutely! I’m not saying I don’t love my life but please remember that someone’s instagram is a teensy tiny snapshot of a life. It doesn’t show the days I’m freaking out about money, it doesn’t show me cleaning my bathroom, it doesn’t show the alarm clock going off on a dark, freezing Saturday morning in winter as I work full time 6 days a week. It doesn’t show rainy days, it doesn’t show the tears or the vet visits or me under a table yelling at the internet modem when it stops working.
Make sure you know that you are wearing rose coloured glasses when you are on Instagram. Don’t ever let someone’s white lies make you feel bad about your life.
Use Instagram as an inspiration tool instead. What picture are you most jealous of? Now figure out why. Me? I’m super jealous of photos of people at Mount Cook, it looks so stunning and I desperately want to photograph it. So this year, instead of just being jealous I have put it on my list of things to do in 2018. If something makes you jealous then pay attention to it. Is it something you want in your life? Why not make it happen?
Come follow my lies at @curious_camera_co on instagram or https://www.facebook.com/curiousqueenstowncamera/ and tag me in yours!
Here are some of those lies:
The top photo of the scenery is the only one you saw that day. In reality I wasn’t strolling around town or hiking, I was up a scaffolding sanding back an old window frame that needed painting. I had no fingerprints left by the end of the day.
The top pic is the photo you guys got to see of the colour run. And it really was an awesome day, afterwards however…my face was stained a pale shade of blue for several days and I scrubbed it so hard my skin was red and raw…no more pictures please…!
Stuck In A Rut 