How I Formed a Monumental Relationship with Selfies
Here at Myrth, we talk a lot about the balance between life and tech, self-love and self-awareness. Emma describes her relationship with the infamous selfie and how a different perspective might influence how you look at the next selfie you see.
No one would deny that I am an independent person. At the age of 8, I went with my dad and my sister to Disneyland. As the electric parade full of Disney characters passed by, I pushed my way to the front of the crowd. And then, when the parade was over, I just joined in and followed the parade down the street, oblivious to the fact that I did not have my dad or my sister with me.
Now I don’t remember this story very clearly and rely on my dad’s account for the most part, but the long and short of it was that I spent some time exploring the park, as did he and my sister, and eventually I went up to a security guard and informed him that my dad was lost. We eventually found each other and all was good. But neither of us seemed to panic. It just was.
I still have a tendency to wander off when in groups or when I am supposed to be obeying rules. Nothing dangerous, illegal or disrespectful, just independent. My awareness of things around has therefore been refined and tuned so I generally know both where I am and where you are, even when it doesn’t look like it.
All of these experiences and traits have led me to a life of solo traveling. I don’t always travel on my own, but solo travel is the norm and not the exception. It is for this reason that the selfie has become my signature photo.
The selfie gets a lot of grief from social media and society in general. It is seen as a self-centered thing, something that is only done by vain people seeking compliments from strangers. Maybe that’s true for some people, but not for me--and, I’d bet, not for a lot of other people.
The selfie is my photo capture. I don’t have an Instagram boyfriend or an entourage to take my picture. I could ask a stranger, and sometimes I do, but as mentioned above I tend to wander off alone. The selfie is my fight song. Mount Fuji, Macchu Pichu, the Eiffel Tower, the Parthenon--you name it, I’ve got a selfie.
I have captured the photo and didn’t have to rely on anyone else. “I can do it by myself,” just as my four-year-old self used to say. Fiercely independent.
The selfie is also a way to emphasize the power of traveling solo. A lot of people think traveling solo might be sad or lonely. I think it’s the opposite, and the selfies help affirm that. They say, “I’m on my own, and my adventures are worth documenting. I want to remember how much fun I’ve had by myself. This has value.”
No matter where I am taking a selfie, though, there’s one constant, underlying truth: the selfie is a way of asserting not only that my adventures have value, but that *I* have value. I could just take a picture of the place I’m visiting, and that’s cool, but a picture of the place I’m visiting with me in the frame says something different. It says that I take up space in the world and deserve to take up space in my memories, too. That’s powerful.
So the next time you see someone’s selfie in front of a monument or a famous structure, just remember: that person might be braver than you think.
And I am sure if I had had a camera all those years ago at Disneyland, I would have gotten some mean selfies with Chip and Dale.
Are you a fan of the selfie, or do you shy away from it? Why? Share with us in the comments, below!