Although I avoid joining WhatsApp groups (like hell) there are some that I find totally worth my time and attention. Primarily due to intellectual diversity, if not anything else.
This last Sunday, I received a message on one of these groups titled — What’s wrong with this picture? No, I’m not going to post the picture here but it was of a gorgeous girl pretending to read a book but clearly posing for a photo shoot. Of course, it was hard to see anything wrong except that she was holding “The Diary of a Young Girl.”
And while I honestly didn’t feel anything was wrong but that was the whole freaking point! Who the hell blushes on the diary of a holocoust victim? Another point was that she doesn’t even know what’s in the book yet she’s posing with it.
Both points didn’t make any sense and here’s why:
- The girl’s clearly posing for a picture. And the intention was to shoot a picture of the person reading a book so she can upload it to the socials and get likes. That’s it! She clearly wasn’t detailed oriented or had thought deep enough about people’s reaction in relation to the book. Why? The picture was about her. And not the book.
- How do we know if she knows what’s inside the book? Nobody’s going to borrow or order a book that they don’t want to read but just strike a pose with. Even if they’re the kind who live on Instagram wouldn’t do it… unless, they’re making money out of it. And if that was the case, we would’ve known who this person was.
- The book documents Anne Frank’s life while she was hiding (with her family) during the Nazi occupation of the Netherleands, right before the day she was captured and taken to the concentration camp in 1945. Yes, it was heartbreaking but I must say that the book wasn’t just about the holocoust but life in general. It’s got the ups, downs, and even some light humor. It’s a great read.
Here’s the thing — the whole is greater than the sum of parts. While we’re quick to judge a person based on a picture, there are times when what we think isn’t really important. We’ve got to take it easy — there are times when your opinion counts but it doesn’t really matter. Because honestly, the world isn’t coming to an end just because the reality doesn’t meet your expectation.