A happy photograph or a creative one
A couple of days ago I put a photograph of my husband and I on facebook. It was a photograph of us attending a ball. I had my hair done professionally. I had foundation, blush, eye make up and lipstick on. I had taken a few photographs, chosen the best one and edited the photograph as well. It was the first time in months that we went out as a couple, leaving our 19 months old with a babysitter for the first time. So we wanted it to be special for us. The night was wonderful and amazing. Now, this kind of thing is not everyday for most of us. Our life is not a ball and the chaos around is not ballroom dancing. I thought I had to write about it because one of my friends from university texted me after seeing our photograph and said, ‘wow what a life you have!’. I said, ‘Thank you, I really made an effort there, my dear!’ I normally don’t roam around with makeup. My normal days are right down below in the photograph (if you scroll through, you will see it too). But that statement made me think about the illusion that we live in. Life is not just one photograph or summation of several photographs. Making something look pretty and beautiful is creativity and that’s about it.
Photographs are everywhere, aren’t they? Be it facebook, instagram, Pinterest, twitter – you name it. There are thousands of feeds on instagram which is predominately photographs and most of it is artistically done. It’s beautiful and creative. But honestly speaking, it’s not a everyday thing. You don’t sit and eat from a decorated table with beautiful crockery and cutlery everyday. I mean who has the time to do it so slowly and artistically when you have hundreds of things to adhere to. But if you are a food blogger or a photographer you will definitely make it look good. That’s the truth of it!
There are hundreds of food photographs, which looks so beautiful and moreish. Every ingredient picked up immaculately, every thing is so picture perfect. Such close up shots, such beauty in every bite. But this is not real. This is not the way how people eat in general. You will not have an accent colour in life all the time. So please don’t go into the cycle of thinking that you will be happy when you have such beautiful things around you. Because happiness is not just what you see in one photograph.
I don’t even want to get started on travel photographs and videos. And I know that you exactly know what I am trying to say here. Please don’t ever feel down that you haven’t yet travelled the world and there are others who have done it millions of times. Trust me, your happiness is right there where you are now. Going to a zillion places doesn’t guarantee happiness. If you look around, you may find it right there in your arms or in those eyes that have lit up because of you.
What you have is enough. Going from point A to point B is your journey and you decide your success and do not let anyone else tell you how much you have achieved. Because nobody else has travelled your path. You choose your path, you take responsibility and be proud that it’s yours. Fabulous and happy life is not what you see in a photograph, happiness is what you find in simple things.
Much love
Suranjita
PS: If you liked reading it, do spread the love:-)
Social media can be a dangerous place as it can make you feel as if you are missing out on so much. As proved by your friend who assumed by one photo that you live some sort of amazing life with fantastic nights out and look stunning 100% of the time. I do try to balance out my feeds by talking about all the rubbish times as well as the good, but let’s be honest, most of the time I am always going to pick the best picture of my family, not the one where we are crying or pulling each other’s hair out!
Thank you Nicola! I am glad that you could relate to it. As you said, it’s equally true that we always want to put the best version of ourselves which is absolutely fine?
Hey Suranjita! Firstly, I would like to thank you for commenting on my post on Twitter. It gave me such a thril! This is the first blog post of yours I’ve read and I am instantly impressed! Your style of writing is so relatable and enjoyable and you cover very important topics. I am new in the blogosphere and also in social media, and I thought I would somehow be immune to the feeling of missing out, but it does raise its head every now and then. I have to stop and remind myself about all the things you’ve listed in your posts, such as that we only see tiny glimpses of other peoples’ lives. I try my best to use social media to what I think it would ideally be for: to get inspired and to connect with people. I am not a parent (yet), but I am excited to read other posts by you. You seem like a beautiful person inside and out. Have a lovely day and greetings from Finland 🙂
Hi Venla! Thank you for visiting my blog and leaving me a beautiful note! Lots of wishes for a super exciting writing journey. I always tell people that be like a firefly, even if other’s don’t see the light in the day time but you always know that there is light within you. Keep writing and thank you for your warm wishes. Here’s wishing you a happy Christmas and new year:-)
I totally agree. A picture is just a snapshot of one moment in time. Usually people put their best self forward when posting pics in social media which in a way has created unrealistic expectations of happiness.
Hi Suzanne!Thank you for visiting my blog and sharing your thoughts! I am looking forward to reading your blog.
Here’s wishing you a merry Christmas and a happy new year:-)