The Fear of Missing Out: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Instagram showed up in my inbox this morning. (Follow the link! Read the article. Then come back, because this will make more sense if you do.)
It felt really beautifully timed. Like the universe was telling me something. Except not really, because I like traveling and I love my life, but it was a good reminder that every life involves trade-offs. We’re all making choices, every day, about what we want to be doing and how we want to do it. No matter what, we’re going to miss something.
A while ago, I mostly stopped posting to Instagram because I discovered that it was making me feel… disconnected, maybe? Fake? I didn’t like looking at a meal or a view and thinking about it within a framework of what other people would appreciate about it. A fantastic dinner that was maybe not aesthetically pleasing in a photo didn’t stop being a fantastic dinner, but when I imagined posting the picture, it was with justifications and explanations. And when I looked at a view and rejected it because I’d never be able to get a good picture of it… I didn’t want to disdain my life because it wasn’t pretty enough to share, if that makes any sense. Instagram can’t capture the intangibles — the taste of good food, the smell of autumn in the air, the feelings of community and friendship.
But maybe I’ll learn to love it again, because what I liked about it when I first started using it was that it worked for me as a reminder to appreciate the moment I was in, to celebrate the meal that I cooked instead of just shoveling it in, to pause and admire the view instead of glancing out the window and moving on.
Today is going to be a highly practical day: picking up a prescription (I hope), doing some grocery shopping, dumping the tanks, washing dishes… but it started with peacocks.
It seems to me that a day that starts with peacocks is probably going to be pretty damn magical.
Peacocks are gorgeous birds, but they’re noisy as all get out! LOL We experienced this at our cousin’s home in the U.K. Her neighbor had peacocks and she said she hoped the neighbor would tire of the birds before Spring because she feared they would have another batch of baby peacocks. We looked out the window and watched as the female strutted past with her brood of 6 peacock babies scurrying along behind her. We called out, “It’s too late!” LOL
I love when I can get that ‘perfect’ looking picture that just comes out gorgeous. I love photography as an art form. I also love all of the ‘not-at-all-perfect’ pictures that remind me of good times and people I love.
Pictures do fail to capture so much though… smells, sounds, what you’re feeling when you take it, etc.
Some of my favorite pictures aesthetically are from not very pleasant experiences. I have one of a nice waterfall with a serene pool that is just gorgeous. What it doesn’t show is that the day was very hot and humid and it was at a State Park on a busy day and there were a bunch of obnoxious, loud people standing behind me.
I think it’s great to appreciate those picture-perfect moments, but also to appreciate the ones that don’t look quite so good, but maybe are in fact better. I often tend to imagine what I would write about something and that’s perfect for the things that look ‘off’ because the words can capture the feelings better.