Of Backspace and Photoshop

I've always loved writing. I remember being a kid, fighting with my parents, and writing them letters to explain how mad I was. I'd write and write...then I'd write letters to make up with them too. I'd write letters to friends, cousins...there is just something about being able to get all your thoughts out, have no one interrupt and rewrite, and cross out and tweak until the paper contains the absolute best version of your thoughts, sentiments, ideas.

I got to thinking about life awhile back and thought about how texting, emailing, myspacing (is that a word?) writing...all of these means of communication have something in common, they are "editable". Take MySpace for example, the ole fuzzy picture in a dark room with lots of eyeliner and sideways shot that turns a 85 year old man into a 19 year old stud, or what about blogging or emails, all of these things can be backspaced, spell checked, (ok, I know, I know there are times I need to use this feature more, don't rub it in.) Edited. And that's the trouble.

With the media airbrushing every photo, editing every video, restylane in the lips, lipo on the hips...what part of us is real, raw, unedited? Not that all of these things are bad, I'm not saying that, I'm saying that almost every means of communication or contact can be altered to be the best version of "you" or "me".

Somewhere in all of that-- "perfection" has become the norm. When everything has been nipped or tucked or augmented or injected or photoshopped or cropped or backspaced...we see what others want us to see. I know, I'm rambling, but stay with me, there might be something worth reading, no promises though.

But I want to know what about the raw, uncut, unplugged, unedited versions of us? What if there were no backspace, no tummy tucks, no cover up? How would our perceptions of people change if our flaws were out there for all to see, all the time? Of course, I think its great that we can "fix" our problems and deal with our issues, but sometimes, I wonder if the fixing of the outside makes us overlook the fixing that we might need on the inside...