Chapter Break: Let's Chat About Snapchat


I have Facebook. 
I have Instagram.

And that's where my active social media accounts end. 

Twitter and I have a love/hate relationship. I played hard to get for years, finally giving in until I realized that I am entirely too long winded for 144 characters and not at all creative enough to make up kick ass hashtags. Needless to say, our relationship only lasted a few weeks. #NotMyThang

Fast-forward a few years and we're smack in the middle of the Snapchat craze. At first I was convinced it was merely a way for people to flash their junk at one another without it actually being saved on any phone. And that's probably what a lot of people did us it for.  But in recent years, it's become more. We can turn ourselves into pandas and cats, dogs and creepy old men reading newspapers. We can even become unicorns and butterfly crown wearing sparkle queens. 

How fun. 

But that's not what this post is about. 

I stumbled upon one filter in particular - after a tutorial from my sister-in-law - that bugged the ever living life out of me.  

It's probably easier to just show you. 
And just for the record, it is NOT easy for me to post these. 

Here's my face - makeup free, straight out of the shower. No filters or touch ups. 100% my face:


Not anything to write home about...

Now here's my face with the Snapchat filter designed to remove all my wrinkles, make my eyes look bigger, contour my face, and seemingly give me a face lift...


WHOSE FACE IS THIS????
It sure as hell isn't mine.

Sure, it's all fun and games when I'm turning myself into a mythical creature or household pet, but to completely change my appearance because my plain old face isn't good enough? That's an issue for me. What's even more upsetting is that many, MANY women are plastering these faces all over every one of their social media accounts. 

Here's what I have to say about this...

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the face staring back at you from your mirror. 
Is it fun to mess around with filters and play? Of course. But there is a difference between becoming a flower eating hamster and passing yourself off as a wrinkle free, doe eyed, plastic face. 

I'm old
I have wrinkles. 
I have bags under my eyes.
I have big pours and more chins than I'd like.
I'm a mom of two, one of which I gave birth to five months ago. 
I'm happily married to a man who watches me walk around in old t-shirts and tattered sweats with my hair up in a sloppy bun, face makeup free. And guess what? He still loves me. He loves me for who I am, with the face I've been given. 

Do I wear makeup and dress up from time to time? Of course I do. But I don't let what I wear, on my skin or my body, define me. 

If you like to use the filter and feel I'm judging you for doing so, please don't. I'm not. What I'm trying to tell you is that society makes us feel like we need to be perfect at all times. We need to have less fat, fewer wrinkles, perfect skin, expensive clothing... And let's not even get started on the fact that some day you may meet the people who have only seen your filtered face...

The only think you have to be to be is yourself
There's beauty in your imperfections. 

If we spent even half the time we do on our outside, on our inside, imagine how beautiful the world would be.

This post is just as much of a remember for me as it is for you. 
“If you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.” - Ronald Dahl





1 comment

Linda Kage said...

Holy wow!! Your face looked completely different with that filter. And honestly, I liked the before picture (filterless) much better anyway. I always thought the superstars with the biggest imperfections were the best looking. Julia Roberts's mouth, Harrison Ford's scar, you get my point, right?! And my point is that I totally agree with you - the parts that make us the most beautiful are the parts that are uniquely us!

What a strange app to have. But to each their own, I guess!

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