OH MY GOD, BECKY, LOOK AT MY BUTT!

Yes, I changed the words a little from Sir Mix-a-lot's song, but it's that voice and the message that comes to mind whenever I peruse through social...I mean 'ME' media.  I'm dumbfounded by the complete and utter lack of self-awareness despite the over-abundance of selfies. Recently, I came across a post by someone I have known for a very long time.  In this vlog, she lied about herself, pumped up both herself and her work history, and feigned sadness over an incident that didn't actually take place.  I was stunned and I wondered why on earth she would be motivated to create such an outrageous, albeit, unnoticeable lie for those who haven't known her as long as I have.  I was saddened and angered by this post; saddened by the thought that something in her must have felt 'less-than' thus prompting her to pump herself up into someone she actually wasn't. I was angry that she duped so many people who took what she said to heart.  They trusted her words and her earnestness despite the fact that, unbeknownst to them, the advice she doled out was nothing short of contrived and manipulative.  Sadly, in a world that once valued honesty and integrity over self promotion and superficiality, things like this used to be the exception.  Unfortunately, now this type of deception has become quite commonplace. What saddens me the most, is that the children of people like this are being raised to base their self-worth on the number of likes and views their images/ blogs / vlogs garner.  They are subconsciously taught that how other people judge their lives is more important than living a life of substance and authenticity.  Children spending hours to get just the right trout pout next to a contrived peace sign is a sad reality of today's youth and in an attempt for middle aged parents to feel valued and respected, they've jumped on the same band wagon of narcissism and self absorption. It's a perpetual cycle between the youth and the middle aged. Pictures of their lunches and dinners, pins of what interests them, selfies with dog ears or whiskers doesn't make a middle aged person whole nor should they. If people could just take stock of what they have in their lives, they'd realize the ridiculousness of wasting energy on trying to impress people, who in all honesty, don't really think of them when the screen is powered off. People would probably be a lot happier if they spent more time enjoying their own lives than trying to compete with fake lives posted online.  I remember a post by a friend many years ago.  She was on the verge of divorce, in fact just a few weeks away from it, and yet she was posting pictures and stories of how wonderful her marriage was.  She posted how lucky she was to have her spouse, how romantic their decades long marriage was, and how truly awesome her life was.  To those reading her blog, she lived a charmed life.  It was straight out of the pages of Pinterest wins. She was one to be envied and copied.  However,  the sad reality was that she was neither happy nor felt lucky or blessed.  She was deeply troubled but only those closest to her knew that.  It bothered me that she lived a very duplicitous life and felt compelled to do so. She had one bright shiny contrived life online, and another life filled with depression and drug use offline.  I often wondered how exhausting that must have been; to keep the lies straight,  to orchestrate photo-ops and events to support the online delusions. It makes my heart sad that so many people, young and old alike, waste valuable energy in creating fantasy lives online.  Really, has the world lost its collective mind? Can humanity's self worth really be whittled down to whether or not Jane Schmoe likes an image that he sees while sitting on a toilet? If it can be, the world is in trouble.