A Fictional Character Based on Real-Life Events

How much of yourself do you really show on social media?

Instagram influencers often get criticized for portraying perfect lives that are unrealistic and impossible to live up to. But no matter how raw or real or authentic we try to be, ultimately our online personas are just that, personas, and we are all constructing a version of ourselves for others to see.

Social media is not reality anymore than reality TV shows are reality; we’re multidimensional beings and we can only show a sliver of ourselves in this medium.

Sometimes I wish I could strap a camera on my head to be able to show what my life is really like 24 hours a day. My life is beautiful but it’s also messy and raw in a way that is impossible to convey through posts and stories. Recently I was stressed out about how a magazine doing a feature on me would portray me, but my heart coach JP Sears told me something genius: That’s just a fictional character based on real-life events. It’s just their perception of what they’re seeing in that moment — I'm so much more than that!

Remember, no matter how perfect someone’s life looks on social media, that’s just the tip of the iceberg — there’s so much more underneath that no one ever gets to see.

What aspect of your life do you wish you could show on social media?

[Photo credit: Daniel Johnson]