Whether you like it or not, selfies are a huge part of modern society. Everyone has taken at least one selfie in their lifetime, and if you say that you haven’t…well, you’re lying. Many people will put the blame on 12-year-old girls throwing a duck lip, peace sign combo for starting the selfie movement. If you do some research though, you’ll find out that the first selfie was actually taken in 1839 by Robert Cornelius. So I’d like to thank you Robert – and here’s why!
We live in a society where self-love is rarely seen as a positive trait. It’s often played off as vanity and arrogance; and because of this, selfies are sometimes seen as an act of narcissism. That is something that needs to stop sooner rather than later.
It’s no shock to hear that children, teens, and young adults are suffering from severe self-esteem and insecurity issues nowadays. It’s the correlation between self-love and egotism that is causing this. From a young age, society gives us ways to fix our flaws that they were the first to point out, all the while telling us that you can never achieve perfection. It’s a dangerous cycle that almost nobody can avoid; and once you’re trapped within it, it’s hard to find your way out.
Which brings me to the whole point of this article. Self-love is NOT a bad thing, and I will scream it from the mountain tops until people start believing it. Believe that you are beautiful when you’ve just woken up. Believe that you do not have to fit society’s beauty standard to actually be beautiful in your own eyes. Simply, believe in yourself.
Now, this is where I encourage you to take selfies and brag about yourself. Does your eyeliner look on point today? Great! Share it with the world! Do you like the outfit that you threw together this morning? Awesome! Instagram that bad boy! Don’t let the fear of looking conceited keep you from loving yourself inside and out.
The world will be a much more welcoming and happy place if we all loved ourselves a little more; and I think the selfie movement is just the beginning. People all over the world are finally holding a middle finger up to society and saying a big “SCREW YOU, I think I’m amazing and I don’t need anything that you’re offering to fix myself.”
I encourage you to remember this while you’re scrolling through Instagram, Facebook, etc … If you see a selfie that someone posted, like it, tell them they look great, encourage them. It’s the little things like that, that can truly alter a person’s view on themselves. If you can make another person smile and feel good for a moment, a day, or even a lifetime, why wouldn’t you?
