A Bit of Monday Inspiration

Photoshopped Photo Horrors: Before and After

We live in the digital age, and it’s fascinating, isn’t it? We are all on the internet. No, not just sitting here looking at the screen, but we actually have virtual lives on the internet – e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, etc – social media and online dating have made it possible for us to really live on the web.

A friend was showing me the other day pictures she had altered with Photoshop - some just to play with the colors, some to adjust the light – and then one, which she said she had posted the photo shopped version of on her Facebook page. She had blurred her skin, altered the colors, and changed the shadowing to make the picture look completely different.

It made me recall all the reoccurring photo-shopped scandals we’ve encountered over the years.

I know this topic is brought up time and time again over the decades since the advent of photo editing technology, but why hasn’t anything changed? We are still so hungry for perfection that we are willing to look past the fact a picture we see in a magazine has been pinched and stretched beyond normal human proportions and not only admire the photo, but think to ourselves – “man, I want a body like that”.

What’s shocking is that some tiny tweaks are so not necessary – like Kim Kardasian’s hips getting smoothed out, or Cameron Diaz’s tummy tucked in the photo below.

I, for one, would love a magazine of ALL real-life women. No photo-shopping allowed. I would rather see some reality rather than yet another pinup of unattainable “thinspiration”.

What do you think – are we aware of the fact nearly every photo published is now edited, or are we blinded by wants of perfection?

Embracing Imperfection

“I like flaws and feel more comfortable around people who have them. I myself am made entirely of flaws, stitched together with good intentions.” Augusten Burroughs

I came across this post the other day about models falling and how when gorgeous models fall, it’s hard not to laugh. Exhibit A:

I can’t say I agree with that sentiment. For me, when someone absolutely gorgeous and wonderful takes a tumble – physically or metaphysically – I can’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. It’s more of a, “thank heavens they AREN’T perfect!” kind of a reaction.

The most inspiring for me is when an outwardly perfect person, someone who many people – from young girls to grown women – want to be just like happens to fall and gets up gracefully. You know, with one of those “well, it happens, I’m human” type attitudes. A celeb with just that attitude towards life is exhibit B, Lady Gaga:

“I would say that a really big challenge, especially in high school, is the pressure to be cool, and to do things that people think is cool. My best advice is to just be yourself and to do what you believe in and, you know, that being yourself is the best thing to do.” Lea Michelle

I mean, who wouldn’t fall in the high boots and shoes Lady Gaga wears every day? And really, who doesn’t have flaws? Or have hard times, challenges, and difficulties – no matter how perfect they look on the outside? I for one just adore anyone who embraces their differences, and realizes that not only do these differences not make them flawed, but instead make them unique. I remember spending so much time growing up just trying to fit in with all my friends – do exactly what they did, wear all the same clothes, and look the same as them from how I did my hair down to what my face looked like.

I have to laugh as I look back, because today all I find myself doing I trying to set myself apart, embrace my differences and find my own style, niche, and life.

“Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.” Marilyn Monroe

We all have “flaws”, none of us are perfect, and once we realize that and embrace it, we are able to let go of a lot of the insecurity that holds us back.