Selfie!

I was in a lobby of a five star hotel waiting for my friend. It was a beautiful hotel. The color combination was eye catching, simple yet attractive. A big statue of lord Buddha, chandelier hanging in the middle of the lobby, lit with hundreds of tiny bulbs making it more attractive. With exotic rose fragrance the place made me relax. I pushed back and acquired every inch of the leather couch I can. While I was enjoying my couch, I heard the sound of stilettos approaching towards me. As I noticed, it was a beautiful girl, walking in a straight line like all the models do on the ramp. She went to reception desk, after exchange of few words with the receptionist, she too sat on the couch. It seemed like she was waiting for someone to pick her up for some event. As I was watching her through corner of my eye, she took her mobile, stood beside the statue of Lord Buddha, and took a selfie. 

This selfie made me think what is in this selfie that is driving everyone so crazy now days? May be it is the struggle of finding one’s own reflection. May be it is the desperate attempt to see how we look from other people’s eye. Or maybe it is the feeling of consciousness of how we are reflecting to others. Or is it the symbol of self-obsessed narcissism.  

If you are thinking it is the struggle of finding one’s own reflection. It may be because everybody is so busy in rat race, that nobody is bothering what the person is doing next to him, and to create this identity in this busy world selfie appeared to be a useful tool to create one’s own reflection and make people aware of it. If you apply the maslow theory here, then you will see it stands somewhere between safety and self-actualization viz belongingness, recognition. Belongingness, yes now days, taking selfies with your friends or loved ones is the way of expressing belongingness, or showing your love towards that person. Recognition, it is the step after belongingness in maslow’s pyramid, where person craves for his/her identity in the society.    

Sometimes this selfie becomes the innocent desperate attempt to see how we are presenting ourselves to the world. And it act as wonderful medium for too. it is for those who are extra conscious about their looks and their image in public.

And last but not the least it is a wonderful tool for all the narcissist to showcase their self-obsession. Which is scientifically proven by the psychologists in their research, where they have categorized such people based on number of selfie uploads they have made on social media. 

So, Selfie! it is a tool for recognition, to show belongingness to some, while it is mirror for some self-conscious people. And it is a symbol of narcissism. While I was thinking about this my friend came in, it was almost three years since we met. He took his mobile took our belongingnesswali selfie!