Instagram, Snapchat, VSCO, Photoshop...the editing apps and photo altering filters of today's modern era are everywhere. Perfectionism takes its roots in society and surrounds us in our everyday lives. You choose which images to upload and what happy memories to highlight on your profile. You have the power to leave out details, stretch the truth, or erase faults to pretend like they don't even exist. We're glorifying money, power, beauty, and 'the perfect life,' but constantly wanting more.
Newsflash: the perfect body, relationship, job, family, or overall perfect life do not exist.
Who are we trying to kid? Nobody has all their shit together...absolutely no one. We always want what we can't have and become jealous and greedy over petty, material things. It seems like people these days are more concerned with keeping their Instagram theme aesthetic than they are with building and maintaining relationships with their peers.
Everyone, not just millennials or teenagers, is too focused on fitting in and keeping up with technology. Our society has strayed from individualism and is now a completely collective culture. People are trying so hard to cover up the things that make them stand out and chip away at their uniqueness in order to blend in with the crowd because apparently being different is now a bad thing. We are literally shaming people into keeping parts of them hidden away.
Kids gossip about that girl's faux leather coat because it isn't designer, but the only reason she bought it was because she seemed to be the only girl without one. Her friend gets harassed because she wears hand-me-downs and not the latest trends because her family can't afford it. No matter what either of them does, it seems like they'll never have the approval of their peers.
Another girl cries in front of her mirror because there's no gap between her thighs. She starves herself, overworks her body, and hates the image staring back at her because she isn't like the photoshopped models in that magazine. The only way she can feel good about herself is when she posts a selfie wearing pounds of makeup and receives a flood of jealousy comments.
That guy who always posts cute Snapchats with his girlfriend is actually abusing her in their relationship. They're constantly fighting and never mean it when they say "I love you." He only posts those long-captioned "candid" pictures of his girlfriend when she's angry at him, and he needs some way to make her feel wanted again, so she'll come back. After she does, the verbal and physical abuse continues.
They're not #goals. That girl's selfie isn't "flawless." Their life is not perfect.
No one is ever going to be perfect, so stop chasing after such an unattainable goal. Realize how much you've been blessed and be happy with what you have and who you are. You don't need perfection to have a kick-ass life.