…or why all selfies are not created equal.
I am a huge fan of selfies. But I don’t have a mental disorder, I’d like to believe. I love selfies. In fact, I encourage everyone to take a selfie, whether alone or not. Well, technically, it isn’t a “selfie” anymore when you’re with people other than yourself. But, who cares? These people obviously don’t.
If you’re a mom, use that power in your hand called the smartphone and take a selfie of yourself and most especially, with your precious children. Moms, it’s time to put yourself back into the picture. I’ll whisper you a secret: with a selfie, you won’t even need to be conscious of your mid-section. Ha!
And your kids will be pleased to see you in the pics when they grow up. True, the selfie phenomena and the selfie takers have received a bad rap lately. Some say it’s a psychological or mental disorder. I wouldn’t be surprised if medical professionals come up with a new term to describe the obsession to take a selfie.
But really, is a selfie all that bad? I disagree.
THE ADVANTAGES OF TAKING A SELFIE (yes, there are advantages!)
1. It provides documentation for your..uhm, face.
Do you think your skin will stay taut and firm forever? Wouldn’t you love to have something to look back and see how youthful it looked once upon a time? Ask any grandma or grandpa their old pics and they are mighty proud to show you some. Too bad there are only a few as photographs were expensive back in the day!
2. It makes you more photogenic.
There’s no denying that practice makes perfect. When you take a selfie, you know your good angle. We all have a good and bad angle. A lot of selfies means you have mastered how to look good in front of a camera. I would say that is a worthy investment.
3. It makes you track your (fitness) project.
A picture says a thousand words, the scale is just you and gravity working against you. So forget the scale – it’s just a number that doesn’t account muscle mass, water retention, etc. Take a pic to track your progress. The pic always never lie. A selfie should be part of your NSV (non-scale victory).
WHY I TAKE A LOT OF SELFIES
1. Because it is convenient – you don’t need to ask strangers to take your photos. Especially when you work on those awkward poses. Why do awkward poses? Only the selfie taker knows and if it rocks their boat, why not?
2. Because I can look better in the pics if I am the one taking my own pics – I don’t know the reason for this but it’s just how it is!
3. You don’t have to apologize for not smiling for the camera – capture those emotional moments!
And also, sometimes, only YOU can understand why you really need to take a photo of yourself.
4. THIS >> Because almost always, THERE IS NO ONE TO TAKE A PHOTO OF ME (and the kids) – see?
You shouldn’t judge immediately. There are people who love to see their photos but there’s no one to take photos of them so taking a selfie is the only way to make memories! 🙂
5. It makes you live in the moment and puts you in the picture (literally)
Sure thousands of nature photo is great but it’s always good to put yourself in the picture too and if you have no tripod? Selfie away!
While I’m all about taking selfies, I don’t think there is a need to publish them all the time, across all your social media accounts. I have more than 1,000 photos on my phone and half of them are selfies (myself or with the kids). I do post a little here and there, consciously and sparingly because my friends, family, blog readers or Twitter followers know there’s no difference in my face today and yesterday.
With all that said, mind you, I hate selfies, too. Wait, what? Many post selfies online for Facebook ‘Likes’ or recognition. While that is ok once in a while, like all else, overdoing something is annoying. The duck face selfie is the most irritating.
Repeat: daily posting a selfie is annoying.
But then here’s my thing, I am all for boosting a friend’s confidence so if a Facebook Like is enough to make someone happy, I’ll click ‘Like’ on that selfie Facebook status post. Because, what if the person really needs that boost? (Just not the duck face and not every single day, ok?)
So go ahead, take a selfie, just don’t bombard my timeline with everyday selfie pics and we’ll still be friends. (Otherwise, there are a lot of settings to avoid emotional damage from selfie posters.)
Last, last, lastly, life is short, take a selfie!
Finding Backroads 