Face It

You might as well face it, your face is what you show the world. Today you can’t scroll through any social media platform without being inundated with a plethora of photoshopped perfection selfies. You have the ability to alter the authentic you a hundred different ways.  You can doodle, reshape, even put bunny ears on your head to reflect the amusing and whimsical wonders of your imagination. It’s all fun and games until our ego gets hurt.

Filters and edits are a great way to pretend to be a professional photographer with an adjustment here and a brush stroke there. Innocently, we are just softening a few lines, brightening up a  shadow on our face, or we just want to remove that annoying pimple with a slight blur but when does all that editing go too far?

It’s a slippery slope when you’re continually enhancing a picture because you’re not content to post the original. Why is that? Are we using that artistic application to be like others so we can get the likes, the comments, the affirmation that altered is better than the authentic?

Are we forgetting to put the real us out there?

Anywhere?

I’m the first to raise my hand and say I’ve used the available filters. It’s fun and silly. I can make my voice sound like a chipmunk and have my face be perfectly symmetrical with a flawless complexion.  I recall the first time I came across these fancy tools of expression back in 2009, and you could alter any imperfections you didn’t want to share on social media. I admit back then I took it too far and would blur my face so much in pictures I didn’t know where my chin ended and my neck began. I get it. It even seemed amusing when you ran into folks in person and you were shocked to learn that their face wasn’t the pristine porcelain complexion they had posted prior.  In fact, it was like yours, undeniably detailed with beautiful imperfections.

I guess I’m just asking if all this altering is having a negative impact on our collective self-esteem? Are we living in a world where our children are growing up having to keep up with everyone, not just a Kardashian?

We Compare.

We Contrast.

We Conform.

All of these social media platforms are here to stay but where are the limits? Isn’t it up to all of us to embrace that real beauty always starts from within.  The real you, the raw and real you, is still your best face. Never lose sight of the real you.

But hey, if it makes you happy to play around with the filter options, then so be it. Be happy I say! Just don’t let the real you get lost in translation with over-face smoothing, bunny ear bopping, squeaky voice changing, top-Ista Clarendon filter, change who you are inside.

Want a few filters to try?

Brighten up the hue of your heart.

Saturate yourself with kindness.

Adjust the love from within.

Blur the lines of anger.

Highlight the good in your life.

Fade the negative thoughts.

Sharpen the gratitude.

Go ahead, play around with the latest app and find out what Hollywood look might look like, but face it, people much rather see the real beautiful you than anything an edit or an app can do.

Be you!