7 Aug 2013

Jusht.

We all have such collosal egos that need to be stroked and coddled every once in a while.


From gazillion likes on a strategically clicked and masterfully edited Facebook profile picture to carefully crafted tweets that make us and our lives look and sound so much cooler than it actually is to updates and chitchat about how happening we and our lives are - we are so bothered about putting out a good image of ourselves that the lines between what we really are and what we choose to project become blurred.

Making memories have taken backseat to snapping at anyone who questions our cool factor. Saying inappropriate things will get you retweets, cussing out the opposition will let people know you are not to be messed with. Fight with your friends to upload the pictures of the trip to the beach you spent taking pictures to upload, instead of digging your feet in the sand and giving yourself up to the waves.

I have been guilty too, I am not excluding myself out of anything. Varying degrees.
But once in a while, I look at my pictures I took from ten years ago, think back to the person I was then, the things that used to run in my head then and the kind of genuineness that colored every one of my actions. Simple, happy-go-lucky, restless to learn and experiment and with an undying love for books - I was what I want me to be now.

And I wonder where this current version, who judges and classifies people based on their language skills and the amount of books they read, came from.

My compliments are still genuine, my projection of myself is not so much.
But.... what if I let someone in and give them the power to break me with their critical gaze? With their toxic comments?
What if they judge me for my tastes, the way I live, the friends I have, the music I listen to? What if they judge me for being me and I don't match up to the standards they set?

Isn't that what we all are afraid of when we carefully cover reality with Photoshop, sarcasm and well-done make-up. And maybe that's where the 'ego' stems from.

35 comments:

  1. Whoooaaaa wondrful post!! N very true.....I totally agree with you...bt thn hw do v go bac to te past...tht is xtremely difficult..

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    1. We can't. One of the greatest regrets of mankind. Thanks :)

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  2. SO many poignant questions there...
    And how I wish that I was myself... Unconcerned of others...

    Brilliant write-up!

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  3. And that is the reason I love your blog!

    -you blog about stuff that lurks somewhere deep in the corners all our minds, but need self-confrontation or realization.. that lights up like a light-bulb after reading your posts ;)

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  4. A very genuine post. I have wondered about that too in varying degrees. How much do we do to placate the society that we live in. How much do we do to keep other's noses off us. How much do we do to make others jealous. Some times , it is worth taking a step back and thinking "Why" am I doing this. It can lead to some real surprising answers.

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    1. Answers that will shake your belief in the kind of person you are.

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  5. Well you are so right about the pictures and tweets and stuff. and beach parties. Its like there is no fun and whatever we do should first make it to one of the social networking sites. Its exhausting for me because seriously I can't keep a track of the donuts and pizzas I order every now and then and posting them on facebook or instagram is a bit exhausting too! What irks me even more is that all my friends, I mean practically that's what everyone is doing on twitter and instagram. But the truth is I have been guilty too but not a whole lot of times. I am okay without pictures and all that. I have been thinking a lot lately about this. I think you should just do your thing and who cares about their toxic comments? They don't have a life anyway or whatever it is, it's on a social networking site. I am going to post about my summer and stuff and I realized that all this time with cousins and whole lot of activities, I am almost out of pictures. I guess it's something to be happy about. :)

    Bdw I love the quote. :)

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    1. Thank you, Ridx:)
      But don't give up pictures altogether, they are beautiful :)

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  6. Now that I think about it, knowing how someone wants to project their image, is enough for me. Even that tells you a lot about them.

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    1. But on some level don't we all project an image? Are we all truly, truly the people we seem to be?

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  7. Let us and our lives be as awesome as we pretend it to be on 'Internet'. - Someone on Internet. :P

    Amen to that. :-)

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  8. I can so relate to this.. I wanted to be what I am now all my life, but now that I am here I want to be that care free, innocent little girl that I was. Experience is such a pain.. I have these thoughts as one or two lines in my head and you write a whole post about it.. This is the reason I love reading your blog. You seem to spend a lot of time contemplating yourself.. Nice post :) :)

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    1. I prolly just spend too much time overthinking pointless things :P Thanks, girl!

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  9. Well its the technology and you are right about the retweets and pictures. Its hard to keep away from technology and I do want to get my past back when I was heart-fully happy with or without any reason and not bothering to express my happiness or sorrow to anyone or anywhere.

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    1. Yes, technology is one of the biggest culprits of our current obsession with ourselves, thanks for dropping by!:)

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  10. It all comes back to me....gosh so true!

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  11. I think it is okay to have egos. Great people have had great egos, so consider yourself in the league :D

    Cheers,
    Blasphemous Aesthete

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  12. But why do we even have to care if we match up their standards or not? And who is the "their" that we are talking about here?

    Speak the truth, unedit the pictures, strip off the makeup. Are you willing to do it and face it? If yes, then perfect. Never do it for someone else, believe me its too hard to please even the simplest of people.

    I've lived life the way I want. For myself. And I wouldn't give it up for anyone. Not even for my husband. That would be cheating myself. Right?

    Tweet, listen to music, share updates. Who says you have to make them up? People like it or not, hell may care.

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    1. I knew there was reason I admire you.

      But it takes guts to do this and stand by it and not everyone has them.

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  13. Super...well written and true. Image- we are worried more about it than being just us.

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  14. I have been guilty too. And I have been asking similar questions to myself. Why do we want to project this larger-than-thou image? Is there no boundary to our privacy ? Why are we willingly publicize our feelings, opinions and then lament over criticism!

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    1. Woman, you had the courage to tell the entire world to go to hell to be with the man you love. What are you complaining about? You are as strong as they get.

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  15. stop being afraid for once. and if all goes well, you wont have to fear again. if it doesn't, then you always have this to come back to right? :)

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    1. I guess so. But, like a lot of things, easier for me to say that do, I'm afraid :)

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  16. We spend too much time worrying about what others think. Does it really matter?

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    1. If it doesn't, I don't think Facebook would be this popular :)

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  17. Such a refelctive post. I think we all can relate to it in one way or anything, since everyone at some point in their lives lets their egos overpower their judgement and decisions.
    I think most people care too much what others think of them (myself included).
    Very interesting post, got me thinking!

    P.S. Your header is killing me.
    I NEED SOME CHOCOLATE!

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    1. Thank yoo!:)

      And haha, go get yourself a BIG bar of Twix, then... go on :)

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  18. It's one thing to try to present your best version to the world. It's another to pretend to be something you're not. It's actually NOT a thin line to tread, but so many overstep it and consequently appear faked if you compare their real persona with the one online.

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Go on, you can say it.