APR 28, 2026
When did being ourselves stop being enough?
Image via Pinterest/ creator unknown
Nowadays, everything revolves around posting.
We don’t “live in the moment” anymore. Posting a picture at a nice restaurant, taking photos in a cute outfit, or sharing every detail of a holiday has become part of our routine. It almost feels like if you’re not online, you’re not truly living.
Instead of enjoying the physical world, we’ve created an unspoken rule: we need to show where we are and who we’re with. More than that, we no longer see ourselves simply as people — we see ourselves as products that need to be presented and consumed online.
Image from Vogue Magazine
And of course, we have to be visible all the time. And we have to look perfect while doing it.
Our society doesn’t really accept flaws or authenticity. To belong, we feel the need to dress and look like celebrities — otherwise, we’re left feeling inadequate.
The truth is, we’ve learned to perform. And social media has made it easier than ever to pretend to be whoever we want. This only increases our need for validation, we depend on other people’s approval to feel “happy,” while the media continues to reinforce this behaviour.
But the root of this issue isn’t just social media — it goes deeper. We are raised with the pressure to stand out, to be popular, and to be seen.
image via Pinterest / Tate Mcrae
Still, this pressure has intensified as Hollywood continues to promote unrealistic standards that people feel compelled to chase. If you haven’t noticed, celebrities are becoming thinner and thinner — echoing the toxic beauty standards of the late 90s and early 2000s.
With the rise of medications designed to help with weight loss, many people are now using them irresponsibly. When you see someone who is naturally healthy, there’s a different kind of glow. Now, we often see women who were already thin becoming even thinner.
Standards change, and we feel forced to follow, just to “fit in” to a system that often feels unhealthy. Being ourselves was never enough, and with these constant shifts, we begin to see just how fragile these ideals really are.
Demi Moore at the Actors Awards 2026 / Creator Unknown
To some extent, we are responsible for continuing to chase these unattainable standards. But the real issue isn’t just the pressure — it’s losing ourselves in the process of trying to become something we’re not.
In many ways, we’re back to the same struggle we faced as teenagers: trying to figure out who we are. The difference is, now we’re older, but many of us are still disconnected from our true selves.
Being who we are is a gift. And yet, little by little, we are all starting to look the same.
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