Sunday, April 5, 2015

Image is everything, or is it?


Don’t we all want to be thought of, or seen, in the best light possible? When we identify with a particular sport/job/activity, it’s pleasant to work hard at it, to become better and see improvement. When those efforts are recognized by others it only serves to increase one’s feeling of well-being an enhance one's self-image. It’s a basic tenet of the supervisor-subordinate relationship: praising the effort, rather than the result, achieves greater success and happiness in the subordinate. Of course, we all know that one has to be happy with one’s self to truly achieve happiness. It’s a repeatedly cited cliché but Whitney was right: learning to love yourself is the greatest love of all
Anyway, enough of all that; if you’re reading this then it’s likely you accessed it from Twitter. Social media allows us to present out best selves. Social media doesn’t care if you love yourself; it cares about presenting your best self. The side of self that will be looked up to the most, appreciated and “liked/favorited” by as many people as possible. 


We often show only the side that makes us look like the superstars we all are. This is my blog so take me for example, I ran 20 miles today! Wow! Yes, I know, that is a long way. If you’re reading this then you may be (probably?) thinking, “Plantfedrunner is one freaking amazing guy! I want to be just like him. I wish I could go out and run that far and be so freaking awesome, like him!” (Don’t unfollow; I jest!) Ok, that may not be exactly what you’re thinking but the fact that I posted my long run earlier today painted me in a pretty positive light, especially if you’re a runner and into that kind of thing. What you don’t see is the struggle I had on the run. It was hard. I needed the motivation of my wife when, at around 7 miles, I ran into her near the house. I stopped and walked with her for a bit. She told me to “just get it done” and that I’d be really happy if I did it. I knew she was right but when you’re not in the right mindset it’s very difficult to focus on a future feeling. Social media doesn’t care about that. It’s the end result, not the journey that followers, me included, like to see. I like to see all my online friends activities and postings because it can be motivational. I don’t think (often enough) about how hard it was for them to run that day or what else they had to sacrifice to get it done. Just waking up can be a PITA and getting out of that sleepy, relaxed mode can be super hard! I will try harder to appreciate the effort that goes into the work and workouts you all post!



There is also the faulty self-image that social media and our training logs can provide. I like looking back at my training block to see what I’ve done. It can be comforting to know you’ve worked hard at achieving a goal. “Trust your training” is great a mantra to overcome race day anxiety! 


 But comparing ourselves to others is (mostly) not a good thing. True, it can provide motivation to better our selves but, overall, we are our own person and should embrace it. That brings me to the real reason for this post. I have been looking at my Tweet statistics and am not getting much attention. Apparently, photos increase the attention each post receives. Duh, of course! I know I like seeing personal photos! During my run I knew I was going to take a few photos to post immediately after my run. The only thing is that I was tired at mile 7. At mile 20 I would be exhausted. Who cares! A photo is just a snap shot in time. It does not have to capture my fatigue! 



I also remember seeing a photo of Rich Roll that, I thought, captured the grace of running. Even though it is not a typical running step, Roll looks strong and elegant. FYI, I just copied the photo from his site. If you want to check out his podcast, click here!


I’m that kind of runner (I thought). I will recreate that photo.
Post run, I walked in the door and immediately ask wifey to come out and take a few photos and a video of me. The photos are not too bad but, unfortunately, the video captures the real me. 


Not the imagined elegant and graceful runner I imagine myself to be. This is pretty self-depreciating so, in my defense, I did just run 20 miles. Enjoy!
Ahh, but what happens if I take some stills from the video?




Admittedly, these photos still do not paint me as the most elegant or graceful runner but they are clearly better than the video. Lesson learned: It is easy to adjust the image you portray to your followers. Are your photos showing the real you or the "you" you choose? Either way, I guess, it's all fun!

No comments:

Post a Comment