Basically a Blog. This is not a how-to, but a journey of rediscovering who I am. I can guarantee there WILL be mistakes for I am human. Mistakes do not define who we are, how we respond does.
Something a little different tonight. I just want to talk about something that has been on my mind for a while. The power of a picture. I grew up hearing the phrase "a picture can say 1000 words". I think this phrase has left a bigger impact on my generation than we realized. Most people in my generation are well connected to social media. There's snapchat, Instagram, facebook, and twitter. My generation is the selfie generation. We have selfie sticks, special poses, we have the mentality that it's not a true adventure unless you document it. We have taken the phrase, "a picture can say 1000 words" to a whole new level.
We've been told they say 1000 words, but are the words the pictures are saying true? Is it possible to get a picture to be misleading? I think so. Back when I was still dating my ex I had posted a picture of us (picture below).
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Why did I post this picture? What words did I want this picture to communicate? It's funny because what I wanted the picture to say was different than what was going on. I wanted the picture to say, "hey I'm happy", "I'm crazy in love", "my relationship is good". My message, my 1000 word picture worked. It worked so well that a friend from high school texted me, told me how they loved seeing me happy with this new boyfriend and that they thought we looked good. Weeks latter we broke up.
Did something drastic happen between the time the picture was posted? No. I had just posted a misleading, inaccurate picture of my relationship.
*Before I go further, I want to clarify I have complete respect for my ex. I wish him the best. Our relationship was not perfect, like the picture makes it seem. Perfect, isn't a real thing anyways. Our relationship was a joint effort, mistakes were made on both ends. I do not blame him, and this post is not meant to bash him. I just think this picture is a perfect example of what I'm trying to say.
Between this picture being posted and our breakup, the two of us had a pretty bad fight. When we made up, I had the unedited version of this picture printed off and framed. I gave it to him as a random gift.
Again I was using the same picture to say 1000 words for me. This time I was relying on the picture to say, "hey look! you love me!", "I love you", "the fights are only temporary". I'm not going to say that these particular 1000 words were misleading, but I will say they were manipulative. Just because a picture says 1000 words, doesn't mean the words can't be changed or manipulated to say a specific thing.
I just showed you a picture. A picture I used to say different messages. The picture did not change. The words did.
The next time you see a picture, and it makes you feel a certain way- remember the picture is only a picture. It might be saying 1000 words, but the words might not be an accurate representation of what's actually going on.
Please don't think I'm asking you to look for the bad. Just be aware that a picture might not be as truthful as you once thought. Remember that you don't need to compare your life to another persons life. Especially a life that is told through a picture.
