There is a reason people use filters,

For we don’t like how we are defined to be.

Something is crooked or misshaped

That we don’t wish others to see.

If I were to stand before you bare

I cannot help but hold my breath.

As I awaited the inevitable rejection,

I remember why I hide my depths.

I love how older generations ridicule

This generation for the fakeness of online,

But while we publicly display our hiding spot,

People hiding in plain sight is a tale as old as time.

 

Fake a smile

Force a laugh

Appear flawless

Tell little white lies

 

Standards lowered

Dreams crushed

Hopes die

Souls lost

 

We are made of filters, despite what is lost

I am made of wisps of past mistakes.

There is no way to strip my mask

But I have grown to love what I hate.

Some applaud that my face is rarely made-up

My self-taught hopelessness cannot allow my trying.

My quiet nature is a filter that most become acquainted with

But I would much rather spend my life always loud, screaming.

Despite our deepest wishes, we are not bare

For to live and to act is similar, trying different masks,

Living in another’s filters while escaping my bare, infant self.

So in my self-made filter, bask:

 

Fangirl

College Student

Actor

Lonely Friend

 

T-shirts

Unfinished novels

Flicking eyes

Heart broken too many times

 

To ask myself with #nofilters

Is to travel back to my birth.

My life is the colors the world threw on me

And the layers I have put on to add some worth.

I am not blank or colorless

No matter if I leave my Instagram unedited

So do not ask me to strip away

What makes me unique and unlimited!

I understand the purpose of this tag

Is to expose what is real and what is fake.

But how am I supposed to know what to show

If I’m still exploring for my own sake.

 

Be colorful

Try new shades

Experience all possibilities

Love who you find

 

Changes

Buffers

Hugs

Filters with #nofilters