With soft lighting‚ a perfectly curated song‚ an aesthetically pleasing breakfast‚ and a unique caption for an otherwise ordinary moment‚ it sometimes feels like social media is a scene right out of a movie․ It’s called “romanticizing your life,” and one may argue that there isn’t anything wrong with this concept. Since it seems like a harmless‚ even positive idea‚ to see the beauty in the ordinary‚ and to appreciate the daily life around us․
But as this trend has grown, so has a trivial and unavoidable question: are we actually appreciating life, or are we just manifesting a version of it that we can process and control?
The “Main Character” Complex
The notion of being the ‘main character’ in one’s own story has become a popular trend among younger generations‚ with confidence‚ intentionality‚ and self-awareness being core principles․
But it also creates a subtle pressure‚ an expectation that life should feel meaningful at all times․ Sometimes moments that are quiet, messy, and uncertain can start to feel like they’re not part of the plot we constructed in our head, hence why they feel more overwhelming than they should.
Life is not Content
With the arrival of social media‚ there is a fine line between living and documenting; experiences stop being experienced as they are curated and posted․ We forget to live in the moment because we are too focused on capturing every detail. It goes from “How does this feel?” to “How does this look?”
Over time‚ this can lead to an aesthetically pleasing but emotionally distant version of people’s lives․
Comfort in Romanticization
Sometimes‚ idealizing life is a form of escapism that allows one to view otherwise painful‚ ordinary things as more virtuous or romantic․ It is hard to feel like you are living the same life every day: same schedule, routine, meals, people, among other things. In those phases in life, I think it can be healing to romanticize your life. It makes you excited for the next day and gives you something to look forward to. In moments of uncertainty‚ creating an atmosphere of beauty and control can be calming․
However, when romanticization is used to escape our realities instead of enriching them, that’s when start blurring the lines it what is real and what it is just for appearances.
Risk of Avoidance
The issue is not the aesthetics; it is what it can hide․ The more everything is filtered through this lens‚ the easier it is to avoid confronting the ugly stuff‚ and wrap it all up in something more palatable․ We have to face these things and not use this mechanism to make them appear to be the opposite of what they are.
This makes it difficult to get in touch with reality in an honest way․
Finding a Balance
Romanticizing your life is not a bad thing․ It helps to experience things with gratitude and mindfulness․ The problem comes when performance becomes more important than the experience․
It is not about living a life that looks meaningful‚ but about letting life be what it is, even if it is not perfect․
