Lately we've become all the more preoccupied by the superficial. So much that we've sort of lost touch with who we really are. Sure, there are all the more articles, slideshows, and hey, blogs, devoted toward the proliferating topic of self-improvements, but this too has only been a contributing factor to our loss of identity.
We are surfing upon the surface of survival - and one tactic of this is to avoid delving too deep lest we are not able to resurface. Our musculature has atrophied in the process, not exercised in the processes of the act. Similarly our synapses, our neurons has not been taxed with the red-zone activity of 'over-thinking'.
The process of self-development is sadly undermined now by the advancement of our identity as demanded by society and culture, furthermore infiltrated into our very subconscious by technology.
We devote more time to creating the 'perfect' selfie - and not for individual purposes: the whole point of taking selfies is to publish on various social media instrumental in putting forward ourselves as a subject for interpretation by society. And it is on this very basis that we recalibrate our very image of ourselves in our eyes.
Is it any wonder that we're now a collection of instability? Teetering on the edge of tools which could take us forward if used correctly, these same tools are those which will make or break us. But we're more likely to break; and are in the process of breaking. There are cracks around the mirrors that we try to cover up with snapshots of better created artifices, or smooth over with anti-wrinkling ointments (or better yet, photoshop). But at the same time, we have this internal struggle to reconcile the person we might actually be inside to the person we try to be as demanded by external expectations. We assimilate these expectations so much into our very psyche that they have superimposed upon our original ideas of identity.
Our self-esteem is tenuous. Even those of us who aver we don't give a rat's tail about what society thinks of us are not immune. The toughest facade really has grown so due to necessity. The way a person blinks at us, or smiles at us, or walks past us without another glance makes something underneath, even insubstantial or subconsciously, quiver. When we look at ourselves in the mirror, we see what needs improvement or what is to be admired after improvements and through other people's eyes. Underneath this skin, we don't really know who we are.
