Let’s face it. We live in a mixed up world of extremes.
We want to stand out and fit in.
We want to be part of the crowd and yet we isolate and feel all alone.
We want to be loved and yet we hate ourselves.
We yell, “Don’t look at me” and we post
selfies all over social media and encourage the world to “like” us, subscribe and share.
All of this can reek havoc on self-esteem and can cause all kinds of issues that stem from getting validation externally instead of finding power and worth from within.
Self-esteem is basically how we perceive ourselves. It is based on our self-worth, competency or how well we achieve. In part, we get a sense of how successful, talented and proficient we are by comparing ourselves to others. In today’s digital world, the playground on which we make that comparison is no longer just in the school yard – it is vast and wide and our children are comparing their ability, beauty and worth based on people all over the world and on distorted images of reality. Most kids today get their sense of self and validation by how many “likes” they get on Facebook or how many followers they have amassed on Twitter or Pinterest or Instagram. They were born into a time of the greatest technological advancements in the history of man and they don’t know any different. Social media profiles are often fabrications of who we want the world to think we are and teens begin to believe that is who they really are.
I saw this Dove video the other day and it struck me that even in this uncharted, new frontier of global, viral-liking-thing we’ve got going on, there is still this part of us that is afraid (or just don’t want to) let others really see us. But maybe that’s not such a bad thing after all.
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My friend snapped this pic of her daughter at the beach the other day and posted it to Facebook:
And had this to say about it:
Another fabulous beach day, not so great for picture taking. I have more pictures of her hands now that she’s a teen than ever before. But I won’t stop, even her hand is precious to me.
Love.
Parents, teachers and teens – all of us are all trying to find our way in this digital world with what we share, how we present ourselves to the outside world, while hopefully striking a balance with the time we devote to our own inner world.
We all need to be mindful and careful to preserve a part of us that we may not want to share with the world. Maybe it’s OK to put your hand over your face from time to time and keep a part of you – just for you.
So what do you think? Do you feel the need to document and share every moment of your life with the world? Or do you prefer to keep parts of your life private? Share your comments below.
