Too many times within my day I find myself grabbing my phone and scrolling through Facebook, holding my tiny fingers down to witness 10 seconds of pictures and scurrying through the collages Instagram can share with me before the clock strikes 9:30 a.m. and Dr. Reedy’s bio lecture begins.
Some purse their lips in an unusual manner, others prefer the long mirror bathroom pose and some display the mysteriousness of the “half face.”
It’s clear just about everyone has developed his or her signature pose — a certain smile, placement of the hand or a twinkle in his or her eye that he or she reverts to when anyone pops out a camera.
The word for this phenomenon was added to the Oxford Dictionary just a year ago: selfie. Selfies are everywhere. The girl sitting in her library cubicle takes them, the boy hanging out with the bros takes them and even Obama has a couple shots to add to his camera roll.
It is clear camera phones and social media are growing aspects of our generation, but when 12-year-olds have more than 100 pictures of themselves uploaded to Twitter, and when people change their profile pictures every few days in hopes of racking up a few more likes, I have to be forward and declare that selfies are making us more self-absorbed and less appreciative of our surroundings.
Things have changed when a simple night out with friends remains incomplete without a photo session before, during and after.
We want to show everyone what a blast we are having while entering the movie theater or the cute little crazy face we can make during a quick stop to grab some fro-yo. We want affirmation that we are liked, sociable and good-looking.
Now, it’s okay to snap a few shots in order to remember the good ol’ times, after all generations before ours found ways to hold on to great memories.
The problem rests when we are more focused on capturing the perfect shot to post for the rest of the world to see. This obsession will drive ourselves to eventual vanity.
Instead of trying to look glamorous for the camera, we should try to absorb the beauty of the present. Every second, minute and hour of our day can provide us with wonders if we take the time to acknowledge the magic that exists in being fully alive with the people and treasures surrounding us.
So, please tuck that phone back into your pocket and let’s enjoy ourselves without prepping a pose for the camera.
Filters and numerous expressions won’t make us any more beautiful; living in the now is what will allow us to present our true radiant selves to the rest of the universe.
Once we log out of Facebook, quit obsessing over our next Snapchat story and start living in the present, maybe we will find what we are looking for in this world we all call home. Because if a picture is worth a thousand words, we as individuals are worth so much more.