28/03/2021
“Comparison is the thief of Joy” – Theodore Roosevelt
After having lots of interesting conversations about using filters and how they may be affecting us, I realised that the main issue is ‘comparison’.
It is so easy to compare yourself to others, especially in this day and age when we are bombarded by a million photos on Instagram everyday. On top of this, a lot of the photos have been edited/airbrushed/photoshopped which means we are now comparing ourselves to an image that might not even be real!
The way I try to tackle it is to admire others, be happy for others, be proud of my friends but learn that what they have or don’t have, the way they look or don’t look has no effect on my self-worth, on who I am. That way I can fully support my friends or others on social media, without the jealousy, competitiveness or comparison that leads to feeling down about ourselves. I know this is easier said than done but it can be practiced. We are all unique!
However, we also compare ourselves to ourselves! Maybe to the person we were, to the size we were. I do this with filters, I compare my face to the filtered version of it. Before doing it I have no issues with the way I look (or at least just the normal amount, obvs we all have bad days 😅) but after seeing a filtered version of my face where I look tanned, whiter teeth, smooth skin, no spots, as soon as I go back to my normal face I feel inadequate. I notice so many things I didn’t before! So I am going to try to make a conscious effort to be kinder to myself and to avoid the self-comparison by not using filters as much.
I have really enjoyed the discussions today. If you have any thoughts on the topic please do comment or DM me 😊
