WARNING! DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE A SELFIE LOVER
A picture is worth a thousand words.
But what if the same picture becomes the cause for you never ever telling a word again. When Robert cornelins took the first selfie ever in the history of photography in 1839, he would have never expected it to become a craze among not only the youth but also middle aged and even the old in the near future.
I got a new haircut .let me take a selfie. I bought a new dress. Let me take a selfie. My friend is sad. Let me take a selfie to cheer her up. It’s ridiculous how a selfie has become a large and important part of our daily lives. So much so that in 2013, it was declared the word of the year by oxford English dictionary. And we have made a special day for selfies- national selfie day on 21 June.
The likes on our picture now define our popularity. The positive comments judge our beauty, character and social status. The initial purpose of a self-portrait was to reflect your true self in a moment worth capturing. But how do you expect someone to accept their inner beauty when all they do to the self portrait is editing and filtering them for just some likes. The better your selfie, the more likes and comments you can pick up on social media. The need for this attention, popularity and acceptance from the society leads these selfie addicts (yes, they get seriously addicted to it in their quest for success) to try taking selfies in different places, different poses and variety of props (the best being a loaded gun). And the obvious result is them getting to meet god earlier than the decided time.
When your mom tells you about a recent selfie death from the newspaper or television, you shut her up by telling, ‘mom. I’m not too addicted or crazy like them. I know my limits. But trust me. You will forget all your limits when you see a beautiful (in other words, risky) spot worth slicking a selfie. The thrill of doing something challenging and succeeding in it (if you are lucky enough) will lead you to doing crazy things. Why else would Disneyland, Paris, Hong Kong and many other American theme parks forbid the use of selfie sticks on their premises? The palace museum in Beijing and the Sistine capital in Italy too have joined them. Even festivals like lollapalooza in Chicago, Coachella in California and India’s massive kumbh mela have come for a halt.
And what about the long list of illnesses it causes? Body dysmorphic disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, anxiety, depression and suicide triggering are just to name a few. (Even I didn’t know about these complicated sounding but not so complicatedly spreading social sicknesses until I searched about them.) Think about the kind of germs we share when we stand so close while taking a selfie. And then you read articles and surveys that brainwash you on how a selfie pose can determine your personality and mental health.
Dear reader,
After reading till here if you want to change yourself, read further. If you have still not made up your mind, please go back and read this 10 more times.
It’s simple. All you need to do is stop following the herd. Don’t do something out of peer pressure or to gain acceptance from a bunch of irrelevant people and to interest them. Start embracing yourself the way you are. No one has rights to influence your character, behavior and concept of beauty. I repeat. No one. Live in the moment and make memories rather than losing on experiences to your phone or the small rod which you call a selfie stick. It’s time to say and experience,
I LOVE MYSELF THE WAY I AM
