Social media kind of sucks. Before you go judging me for saying that, let me explain. When I was modeling at age 15, I didn’t spend any time posting stuff on social media to get more followers. Social media definitely wasn’t as cool back in 2015 as it is now. I feel like my life has changed so drastically since I started A Life in the Fashion Lane in 2011, and I’ve grown up behind a computer screen. Sure, I chose to be a blogger, and I’m totally not complaining, but I definitely think there are things that people who live on social media should be calling out more.

For example, I’m very vocal about how obsessed I am with G-Eazy and Halsey. Like, they’re literally the only two celebrities in the world I care about. I went to an event last Monday where I met Halsey and was sitting behind her. After I left the event, I kept going over in my head why I was so freakin’ nervous to meet her prior to the event. Now that I meet so many celebrities, I realize how normal and occasionally boring (Halsey was most certainly not boring) they are. But because of social media, we’ve got this skewed perception of what real life is off of the Internet.

I woke up the day after the event and started comparing myself to everyone I follow on Instagram, which is something I frequently find myself doing. Quite often, I’m told how I don’t have enough Instagram followers to be successful (that sounds really shallow when you say that out loud, doesn’t it) and so I turn to social media to look at people who have 100s of 1000s more followers than me to try and understand what makes them have more followers than I do. Imagine if someone kept telling you that your stomach wasn’t flat enough, over and over and over again, and you finally gave up and went on a diet. But you shouldn’t- because you’re perfect and beautiful just the way you are.

20 years ago, no one would have said “I feel like crap because I don’t have 100,000 Instagram followers”.

After speaking with my therapist this morning AND meditating (both in one day- I feel very proud of myself) I constantly am reminded how I have to stay in my own lane and focus on my own goals. There will always be noise around you, and tons of noise on social media, but you don’t have to listen to the noise. Follow your dreams, and focus on what you’re trying to accomplish in life. Nothing else really matters, trust me.