Social Media gets a lot of heat in the perfection department, and it’s totally understandable. It’s easy to hop on Instagram, look at all these perfect little moments viewed through a hip filter, and feel like an utter piece of disorganized crap.
I may have felt that way at first, but after being around it for a few years, I’ve started to appreciate these images for what they are: Moments. I don’t blame anybody for seeing that they’ve stumbled upon one little moment of perfection in the midst of their chaotic day, and wanting to snap a picture of it . . . and then make it look all nostalgic and ephemeral though various warm-fuzzy filters.
That being said, I’m a firm believer in the importance of authenticity, and would like to present to you:
Contextagram
How’s that for a clunky name?
I think what’s missing from Instagram is an extra caption . . . the “context” caption. Sometimes you just need a little context to truly see something for what it is. Like this photo:
The caption?
“Decoupaging food jars to make DIY tea containers. Hopefully this doesn’t end up in the #nailedit file.”
You guys, how crafty do I look right now? I’ve got Mod Podge, a cute idea, cute jars, cute scrapbook paper, and a glass of hipster beer. I’M SO CRAFTY RIGHT NOW. (So, it’s not right now . . . it was a couple of weeks ago, but still. Stick with me here.)
Ready for some context?
Those jars have been sitting in our cupboards for nigh on two months now. EVENTUALLY, I soaked the jars in vinegar water to remove the smell, forgot about them, let them sit in frigid vinegar water for hours until I finally mustered up the effort to scrape the labels off and wash them again. After the kids went to sleep I poured myself a beer and began the process of decoupaging the scrapbook paper to the jars so that they would be cute while they held my loose-leaf tea.
They turned out okay. Air bubbles and wrinkles, but still pretty cute. I’m quite proud of them, actually, despite their flaws . . . enter, Instagram. Because, in a rare moment of quiet and put-togetherness, I noticed that I had been crafty. Snap, filter, sip, and paint on some more glue.
I am not really a super-crafty lady. I dabble in Pinterest projects every here and there, and not every “here” is as successful as the “theres.” Life around the Bonk house is a little more organized than it used to be, but Martha Stewart would still give raise a pretty snooty eyebrow if she walked in our door. So, you’ve got to appreciate the moments when you get them right. Right?
Now, I’m not going to say I’ll do this on a weekly basis because, let’s be honest here, can anyone count on one finger the amount of times I’ve kept a “blog series” going? I sure can’t. I would like to do this more than once, though. We’ll shoot for that.
Contextagram, though. Not sure if that name works. I’ll think on it.