Likes & Recognition Not Required

By Peta Brady, December 14, 2018

Read time: 2 Mins

Likes & Recognition Not Required Image

What does a selfie mean to you? Tbh I’ve never really thought about it.

But now I am, and here we are.

Most of the photos I post online are things I want to remember for me. My insta feed is basically a diary of memories and moments I like to look back on, and given that my memory is pretty much a crumpet at this point, I need visual reminders.

But why take a selfie?

I suppose it could be any number of reasons.

Maybe I had my hair done, or my outfit was extra cute. Maybe I left the house for the first time in a week and actually did my makeup for once, or got a funny new phone case and wanted you to see it. Maybe I moved house or got a new mirror and stumbled across the perfect lighting. Or maybe I just felt good about myself and wanted to remember that feeling.

Does taking a selfie automatically equal vanity? Or a need for validation from others? A certain number of likes? And what if the likes don’t come? Do you delete that little piece of yourself because you didn’t get the recognition you thought was coming and try again?

That’s a firm ‘no’ from me. 

Most of the time I look like a slouchy potato with no makeup and pimples and my dirty hair shoved in a top knot, so it’s highly unlikely you’ll catch me sitting around taking pictures of myself every day. But sometimes, when the mood strikes, I’ll take a selfie (or two) to remind me that I do not, in fact, look like a slouchy, makeup-less potato ALL the time. It’s nothing more than a snippet of my life – a tiny glimpse into a moment of when I felt good and looked nice, or at least when I thought that I did, and that’s all that should matter anyway. 

And if that’s all it is, then does it really have to mean anything more? 

Can’t I just enjoy a selfish selfie? :/

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