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Story #280

  • Self-esteem

    Instagram can either be amazing or it can be the worst place to be. I feel like I’ve gotten to a really good place at the moment with my feed – that being, I follow people with diverse stories, bodies, backgrounds, and views. I think that unless you make a conscious change to diversify your feed then you’ll always be stuck somewhere that’s negative. I have always had a negative view about my body, and the people I was following on Instagram helped me stay in the ‘wishing my body looked better’ mindset. It was horrible. I was always comparing myself to other people, and they also may have digitally altered their bodies, which makes this a while lot worse as people cannot live up to these LITERALLY unreal standards. I’m an image editor, so I have the resources and the knowledge to alter my appearance, and I’m ashamed to say that I used to in the past. But now, I follow incredible accounts on Instagram that encourage me to be truly me, they show themselves as they are and it makes me want to do the same, and I’m trying my best to do so. I encourage people to show up as they are, and that filters are just not needed, nor is altering your body digitally – your wonderful self is the best version of you!