Dying For Image #155.

Image Is Everything Is What We’re Instructed To Believe. It’s Simply Not True And We Need Not Give Up Everything In Order Obtain It.

All that truly matters is how we view ourselves and are we living up to that view. We needn’t worry how others view us but history has shown us that is a forced concern placed upon at every turn. We feel the need to show the external world how much better off we are then anyone else.

We’ll sometimes get locked into an image we simply can’t remove ourselves from without losing those around us that cling to that image. For the alcoholic or the drug user those closest to you will view you as that and in doing so make it so much harder for you to escape it. Sometimes death is the only way out from such a image.

Holding On To Old Images.

Health can take a hit while maintaining image. Jolly fat man with the poor diet. The skinny model with a diet on the opposite spectrum. The bodybuilder who over works there heart in order to obtain the biggest muscles. Is your youthful beauty declining in old age? Well we have plastic surgery and Botox injections for that. Many will go under the knife to maintain that image. Some might not wake up from it.

It’s so much worse now with the advent of social media. We create these images of ourselves online for the world to see but it’s really all just smoke and mirrors. Those who use those services are all culprits of it. The doting husband, the perfect family, the best body, the world travelers. Just the best possible image without any backstory.

The Lies We Tell Through Imagery.

I’ve been a purveyor of such lies myself. And in our quest to display our best possible image, we trash all the mediocre images of ourselves. Ones that we deem not good enough. Maybe that’s part of the problem, that action of throwing out our own images so often, might cause some self loathing. I’m no psychologist but it seems logical to me to assume if we look at an image of our self and constantly tell ourselves it isn’t good enough. We may run into some problems with how we perceive our own image down the road, psychologically speaking.

The Good Old Days Of Photography.

Not too long ago the pictures we took were the ones we were stuck with and we learned to be happy with the final product. Even if we didn’t look our best. Now we feel we must always up the ante in order to keep up with all the noise and content already out there. So we’ll take riskier photos, travel to exotic locales more for the photo op and less for the experience. Or, to show others you have better experiences than they do. It’s so addictive too.

Just last week a young couple perished attempting to convey there image of travel bloggers to the world. In the process of obtaining more content for there Instagram they fell from a cliff side while attempting to take a photo at a cliff edge in Yosemite.

This Is Not A One Off Thing.

Many have sacrificed everything for that elusive perfect image. It’s simply not worth it. Maybe you’ll get more followers but that should not be tied to self worth. Never tie image to that which might harm. Just enjoy life, make great memories through experiences. Just stay safe while doing it.

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