Okay, so I'll try not to rant, but social media is one of the biggest living lies that we all experience everyday! I just went on a media fast for a week with some other girls and one of the biggest things I learned from it was something I realized after I started to let myself get back on social media when the fast was done.
Why don't I just start out with a bit of wisdom that I got from my dear cousin many months ago... She said that social media has the effect of depressing you because it only highlights the positive moments in people's lives. Now, granted, sometimes we confess our disappointments, but in general we post pictures of happy times, good memories, and for photographers -- the one good photo out of maybe 20 others.
After my media fast ended, I didn't even bother to re-download many of my apps that I had deleted... instagram, paper, twitter, snapchat, etc. And to be honest, I was completely happy and didn't miss catching up on other's lives, and I didn't even feel the need to share about mine. It was the most refreshing break I've had in a while. But as soon as I got connected again. I immediately battled depressive thoughts like, "I never do anything cool... I haven't taken any good pictures recently. There's no place I know around here to get such a cool shot like that!" Well, I really had a time with it that night, and even woke up in the morning thinking about it. But God really helped me to realize that I didn't have to be that "perfect" person living a dream life where you ONLY go on adventures... like EVERY DAY! Because it even says in the bible that there is a time and season for everything. There's a time to work, there's a time to take a break away. There's a time to spend more days away and there is a time when your energy and help is needed by other people nearby (like maybe even at home, cleaning the house even!).
And some people seem to have either completely shirked all their duties and they live off of the crumbs of someone else, or they just know how to time their posts to where it always appears like they are out on some perfect vacation or leisure adventure.
And it frustrates me.
Why can't I do this?
To be honest, I've fought these thoughts more than I would like to admit. It's silly, but it's true that social media can so easily fool you to think that someone else's troubled life is the life you have so sought after. And the solution? Well, I'm not going to say that it is to ban all social media. I indeed like sharing my highlights every once in a while, after all. ;) But maybe the solution is in recognizing the problem and having a change of heart.
Plus, God gave me a song when I woke up that one morning still troubled about my own lame life, that helped to put things in the right perspective. :)
The song that God really gave me was "The Happy People" with "Who but the Christian is happy and free..." But I guess both songs kind of work.
But my main point today is that I'm not going to pretend that my life is perfect. The cold weather actually cancelled the session I was supposed to do Sunday, so I was pretty disappointed and wanted to use my lens somewhere besides my room... so Kiki and I secretly planned to wake up early Saturday morning and go catch a sunrise at the lake because we knew that the rest of the day would be filled with working hard on the house to get it ready for company.
And, no, I'm not going to pretend. It wasn't perfect. I started the timelapse of us driving there and I had it on night mode. Well, those all turned out to be completely over exposed. Whoops! Then the place we walked out to was completely muddy and we had to take off our shoes just to get back in the car. Anyway, we still had a great time.
My little side kick! I'm so glad she's in my life... I'm really not sure what I would do without her.
This man was walking out to a fishing spot and he almost walked right in front of where my GoPro was at capturing the timelapse of the sunrise. I wasn't going to say anything though, but thankfully he was observant enough and kind of stopped and was like, "Ah, you out here taking photos, eh?" and then he walked behind the GoPro. Whew! ;)
But as soon as he walked by I started snapping photos of him and Kiki nearly lost it in giggles... I guess she thought it a little strange to be taking pictures of a complete stranger. Ha ;)
Farewell, Mr. Fisherman...
-MarLeahJoy
Such good thoughts, MarLeah. Yeah, I didn't even "update" myself on all that was going on after the fast. First of all, there was way too much to scroll through. And second, I think I've just started to not care. ;)
ReplyDeleteI think also that people post only the good stuff. They might have had a horrible day, but they're not going to post, say, that spilled cup of coffee. Or the 40 photos they took before that one awesome photo. I think Instagram should be named, "best photos of ____" sometimes. LOL
the are gorgeous!! :)
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