Am I Wrong?

..or the toxicity of Instagram beauty standards

Am I wrong? - the words that drill my head every time i see another polished image of a model in front of me.

Surrounding ourselves with beauty is in our nature. We do it with both material and non-material spheres of our everyday routine. And it’s never been easier to consume all this beauty than now, in the age of Social Media. Why does this make me feel bad about my own body though?

I used to poke my imperfect face and some curves on my body in front of the mirror waiting for them to disappear. When I was 8, I hoped to have the body and the hair of a doll when I get older. In my teens I was dying my hair to look like all those actresses from the movies with shiny hair, bright white teeth and charming smiles. And when I got older it finally struck me: My body is not an image. And will never be. The clue for me lies in a very simple idea: My body is not caged somewhere between the pixels out there. It breathes, it reacts, it can be upset with my actions or it can thank me for my care. It lives outside and evolves.

We are forced by our imagination and mind to continuously compare ourselves but it will never be a fair fight. We’ve surrounded ourselves with beauty but it can only please our eyes. The beauty which can please our soul has always been near us, living and breathing, being perfect on its own.