illusion

In a world where everything is judged by how they appear on social media, there lies a great difficulty in differentiating what’s real and what seems to be real.

 

Life on the Internet can be and is widely manipulated to show an opulent and attention-grabbing life, but in reality, it’s quite the opposite. Why do we warp our reality in order to get strangers approval manifested in likes and comments?

The eagerness to show one’s “good life” has consumed the reality of just living. Being true to oneself has become an important mantra and a guide in assisting people to appear “normal.”

 

Appearance and being, contradicts itself when the two doesn’t coincide, how can you appear to be happy when you’re really just depressed? How can you show that you’re having the time of your life when you are bored out of your mind? How can I appear to be something that I’m not?

 

“Pay no attention to appearing,” – André Gide (1889)

 

You have to be true to yourself in order to appear to be genuine; being yourself will generally get the attention that you seek from people, there’s no need to be fake.

 

If we look around us and take notice of everything that appears to be normal, we’ll see that it’s all an illusion. The commercials that sell a perfect life, the one person who seems to be living the life of the stars, and even the person who pretends to be homeless, they all give the illusion in their appearance, but in their reality, they are living the opposite; everything is staged.

 

The impulse that we have to show the world that we live in a picture perfect world only leads to madness, nothing is perfect and not every part of our lives deserve to be documented.

With all the different types of technology that allow the cameras to keep rolling only makes it more difficult for the person who knows that they’re being filmed to be authentic. People pretend to be something different whenever the camera is focused on them; I’ve had instances where people completely shut down because they knew the camera was on.

 

Ignore the things in life that capture our essence and instead of pretending to be something that you’re not, be the person you are when no one is watching that will make for a better story and a more genuine life.

 

Stop appearing to be rich and glamorous when you only have pennies to your name; don’t pretend to be happy when you’re sad, it’s just going to cause more pain.

 

The person you show people should not be different from the person you are when you’re alone. Have your boundaries but don’t pretend to be something you’re not.

 

Nothing is worth your sanity and if the people around you can’t accept who you are then its time to rid yourself of those people and live your life.