Updated March 5, 2019
When Instagram came out a few years ago, I was one of the first people on it. I didn’t know what the heck I was doing. I posted pictures of stuff, chose a filter, and posted it. In fact, here’s my first instagram picture (taken on my old iPhone 3S, no less!):
Talk about artistic. I’m a real natural. Back then, nobody really cared what was on Instagram.
It seems nowadays I find myself playing the comparison game. Why don’t I have spotless house? Why aren’t my kids dressed perfectly with top knot headwraps, custom leggings and gold mocassins? How come I don’t own a pair of Valentino Rock Studs? Most importantly, WHY DON’T I OWN GOLD SCISSORS?!
The funny thing is, Instagram is in no way real life. It is no way the “instantaneous moment” that we are all led to believe, or what the app was sort of created for.
It’s become highly editorialized. Beautiful pictures taken on professional cameras with perfectly staged photos and the perfect lighting. People become Instagram Famous. Yes, that’s really a thing. Heck, I even bought a FlashAir SD Card so I could send photos from my DSLR to my phone so I can post to Instagram. We are all a sucker for pretty things, pretty photos, and making our lives look more grand then they actually are. It’s fun to make Instagram a pretty place, but we need to remember that Instagram is not real life.
My Instagram feed looks like this:
I try to keep my Instagram as real while also being pretty as I can. My real life looks a little more like this:
Moments. Lots of fun moments that are hard to capture. Like when Kennedy tries to put chapstick on me or dips her fingers into my MAC Melba blush and then all over her face. Or when Katie’s little boy gets awesome pics of my girls from his new iPod. Or Caroline’s cute pajamas. Or when my girls take baths together and Caroline acts like it’s the coolest thing in the world. Some pictures are kind of blurry, and all are not staged. But it’s my life, and it’s on my camera roll.
Oh, and we can’t forget about what’s going on here. My living room. You know, the place where we live most of the time. Toys and baby gear everywhere. A pantsless toddler. Aladdin (or “Maladdin” as Kennedy calls it) on the TV. Pillows, blankets, sippy cups. A mess on the kitchen table. A Bumbo atop the table, creating a potential infant hazard. Oh and my beautiful blogging “office”? It’s a wingback chair in which is also referred to as the breastfeeding throne. Yes, people. This is where the magic happens. Aren’t you content in knowing that I blog and breastfeed in the same spot? Nourishment for all, body and mind.
While it’s perfectly fun and normal to put your best self on social media, we don’t have magical, perfectly staged, well-lit, and spotless lives. Stop comparing yourself and refuse to let yourself fall into the Social Media Comparison Pit. Have fun with social media, but just let it be what it is. But don’t stop taking those pictures. Create those memories. Let the camera roll fill up with blurry photos and pictures of toddlers with blush all over their faces. (Or videos of your kid mispronouncing Star Wars. Sorry, had to throw that in there again. It just never gets old.)
Katie says
Aww, I love this!
Meg says
I love this post. It’s so true! The one that gets me are all the pretty pictures of desks with the flowers, planners and perfectly clean everything (and gold scissors, obvi). I’ve never heard of that wireless memory card, what a great invention!! That is getting purchased today with that Amazon card burning a hole in my pocket from Christmas 😉 Happy Friday!
Katie says
Love this! I actually love the “real” photos on instagram more than any professional ones anyway. Although I’m plenty guilty of staging my own pictures to avoid showing reality!
Amy says
such a great post!! I totally am all for this. I feel like so many of the real life photos (they claim) are also so staged.
Anne says
We live such lovely and blessed lives.
Ashley says
I love this post!! I struggle with instagram sometimes because I’m soooooo NOT a photographer, and I see so many beautiful pictures that I will never be able to create. I’m trying to keep the focus on just sharing my life and not worrying about how my photos look compared to someone else. I just love your honesty in your posts!
April | Our Little Loves says
so true. Sometimes I take a picture and decide it’s not pretty enough for IG. FB only gets the real life ones. lol.
Also, I see the reviews aren’t super high on the flashair. Are you happy with it? I have the eyefi (for my point and shoot) but it’s only 8gb and the flashair ones are cheaper so I’m kind of interested.
Whitney says
Great minds must think alike! I was just thinking the same thing this morning. Of course I love seeing this beautifully created pictures, but there’s something equally beautiful in the blurry, day-to-day photos of chaos!
Melissa says
I couldn’t of written this better myself and I needed to read something like this especially as of late. I too feel the urge to compare and want everything I see and to wonder why I can’t have what I see in that perfectly placed picture! I need to remember that what I have is just fine and that my old pink scissors are just as good as those beautiful gold ones that are perfectly placed beside that bouquet of peonies!
Lindsay @ Trial By Sapphire says
It’s so true that IG is now filled with edited DSLR photos. I always think to myself, “That’s really pretty, but… where does he/she find the time?!”
Kristy says
Love!!! I wrote about this a while back, but I just love you and your writing. The best.
The gold scissors! Bahaha! I always wondered the same thing. 😉
Love your living room. Looks just like mine. 🙂
Kristen says
i love this post!! it’s so true about everything. why is my house not more white with more natural lighting? how am i not magically skinnier either? so weird.