"I constantly find myself preoccupied with monitoring how my own life looks, rather than just living it."

Adriana Mariella

We think in squares. We look around at the world and place the beautiful things that we see into a square. We take 20 pictures of the same thing to make sure we get the best version of ourselves or of our location. We spend time deciding between the photos and then editing the one we have decided on. If we can't decide which we like best on our own we ask a friend. If we are bad at editing our own photos we send it to a friend who can.We want our life to seem perfect and put together.

We spend all this time thinking about how we want others to see us. Without really noticing, we make our lives seem perfect.

Instagram showcases the highlights of our lives. It shows the very best moments, the adventures you go on, and the one of a kind experiences you have. We edit and tweak the photos until we look our very best. Instagram is a place where you want to make it look like you have a fun, adventurous, and perfect life. People don't post a picture of the times when they were feeling depressed or the sickness they may be dealing with or the boyfriend that just broke up with them. They don't show you the broken part of their lives.

But that is not the life we live. Our lives are flawed and messy. We have bad hair days and bad outfits. Sometimes we feel alone and unsure about our lives. Everything is not always perfect. Instagram can make us feel alone or even jealous of others. We see friends or friends of friends and we desire to be like them. Yet all we see on Instagram is what fits in a perfectly filtered square.

We have started to think that regular life is boring because we are comparing ourselves to others so frequently. We have stopped living in the present because we have become obsessed with how others perceive us.

I am guilty of it. I know that I will think "what is the cutest pose to do at dinner" to make it look like we had a great time. Or I think "oh I have this super funny caption and I just need to take a picture from the event that fits." Instead of enjoying dinner with my friends or a function with my sorority sisters, I am more focused on how to present this event to others.

I have begun to challenge myself to stop overthinking Instagram posts. I throw on a filter and write the first thing that comes to mind as my caption before posting. Yes, maybe my aesthetic isn't as thought out and cohesive and yes, all of my photos don't showcase my ideal self, but I'm starting to show the real me.

I challenge you to do the same thing. Put down your camera and look at the sunset. Take a quick photo before dinner and have that be the only time you glance at your phone while you are with your friends. Spend less than 2 minutes thinking about posting a photo to Instagram. Don't stalk others profiles just because you wish you had their lives. Live in the moment.