Looks and Instagram
When deciding about what to write about today, I cam across an article about a cosmetic surgeon doing a great deal of work on millennials particularly young women who are waning Botox etc in order to get more Instagram likes. Where have we gone wrong in society where people are prepared to pay for very expensive procedures in order to get more likes on social media?
Looks for many people have always been important, we sell product and we do judge people by the way they look. However, this article frankly concerns me as both a psychotherapist and as a human being. I have no children, but i would hope that if I did have children, I would have instilled a belief in my kids that they are more than their looks.
Looks are a commodity which invariably fades. The reality is that looks are a subjective thing which one can never claim to truly own. Therefore looks, are an extrinsic evaluator rather than internal. I work with clients regularly to help them to attain an internal locus of evaluation because that is theirs to keep and does not rely on the outside world.
Perhaps we need to be sending a message to people that looks are fine, but it is the sum total of your mind and heart which is really what is important in life.
