The Selfie - Me, Myself and (Generation) I

          (Warning: By the end of this post, I assure you, you'd be sick of my face!!!!)

                                            Selfie. 

Selfie at library- 2012

Selfie at closet - 2011

According to Wikipedia, a selfie is "a type of self-portrait photograph, typically taken with a hand-held digital camera or camera phone. Selfies are often associated with social networking."


Initially popular with young people, selfies have become popular among adults as well.^[13]

Selfie at kitchen-2007

                    

Selfie in guestroom - 2010

^[14] In December 2012, Time magazine noted that selfie was among its "top 10 buzzwords" of 2012; although selfies had existed for years, it was in 2012 that the term "really hit the big time".^[15] According to a 2013 survey, two-thirds of Australian women age 18–35 take selfies—the most common purpose for which is posting on Facebook.[14]

Sweet Selfie - 2008

By 2013, the word "selfie" had become commonplace enough to be monitored for inclusion in the online version of the Oxford English Dictionary.^[17] 

Demure Selfie -2009

In November 2013, the word "selfie" was announced as being the "word of the year" by the Oxford English Dictionary, which gave the word itself an Australian origin.^[18]

Why the obsession with taking pictures of oneself (this writer included)?

Emily Cook's Selfie

UK's BBC News Magazine interviewed a 22 year-old Instagram user from Lincoln, Emily Cook, and she explained that she believes that selfies elicit a "feel good factor."

"It's always nice to document a good hair day, or an outfit you love. And generally, especially with Instagram, there's a real feel-good attitude towards selfies, and as vain as it may be, you know that if you're not feeling great, there's someone who will 'like' your photo and tell you you're pretty."

My Gen X barkada/friends from College at a recent reunion - Dec 2013

I supposedly belong to Generation X.

News anchor selfie - 2011

                         

Bathroom selfie -2012

According to Wikipedia, Generation X is "a term used to describe generations in many countries around the world born from 1965 to around 1982.^[1] The term has been used in demography, the social sciences, and marketing, though it is most often used in popular culture."

Having been born in 1975, I do belong to the X Generation.



Today's youth is supposedly part of the I-Generation or Generation I. What is this exactly?

In the car selfie -2012

In a Taping Selfie - 2009

Here is its definition according to the Urban Dictionary: "The generation of I, as in, me. A generation of people who feel entitled to celebrity. A generation of people who post their pictures on social networking sites, who post their lives on Twitter, who live as though they are famous. As coined on The Lionel Show radio program. Generation I slacks off in school because they believe they will be famous.   Generation I is so full of itself."

Whoa.


It is even written that this I-Gen is the "rudest generation."

Selfie at work -2012

According to Australia's Daily Telegraph,  "With iPod headphones glued to their ears as they text on their iPhones (that's when they're not using them to chat to friends at the top of their voices), and ignoring everything else in the room except their iPads, the under-20s are widely perceived as the rudest section of society... As in: "I don't care about you, it's all about me." "

Selfie Olympics -Adam and Eve

Whereas I somehow agree that today's youth is obsessed with all things high-tech and with taking pictures of themselves and posting about every single thing they are doing online, I do not agree that SELFISHNESS is exclusive to this generation. I think that since Adam and Eve's Fall, every single one of us have belonged to the Selfie or I-Generation, even before those words were coined.

It has been a bondage that has been going on for generations. Generation after generation after generation of selfishness and disrespect.



We all have bought into the LIE that:    "It's all about me."

Pa-cute selfie - 2012

This lie is exactly what the Serpent said to Eve at the Garden of Eden: "It's all about you." 

According to Nancy Leigh de Moss, author of 'Lies Women Believe and The Truth That Sets Them Free':

Trying to be Alluring Selfie :P - 2010

After work selfie- 2010

"In spite of all the talk about poor self image, our instinctive reaction to life is self-centered: How does this affect me? Will this make me happy? Why did this have to happen to me? It's my turn. Where's my share? He's hurt my feelings. I've got to have some time for me. I need my space. He's not sensitive to my needs.

It's not enough for us to be the center of our own universe. We want to be the center of everyone else's universe as well -- including God's. When others don't bow down before us and devote themselves to promoting our happiness and meeting our needs, we get hurt and start looking for alternate ways to fulfill our egocentric agenda. "

Pregnant selfie -2009

                          Ouch.

Bedroom Selfie - 2010

For most of our married life, I had been centering on my needs, on what I wanted to happen to my life, on how Dong should live his life the way I  wanted him to, etc. etc. It was all about me, myself and I.

I was not only disrespectful to my husband, but most embarrassingly, I was rude towards God! :(

In the guise of prayer, most of the time I actually bullied God into doing my will, and when I did not get my desired response -- I pouted, I got depressed, I threw a spiritual fit by sometimes refusing to pray! What a spoiled brat! Generation I at work!!! Selfish self emerging! YUCK!!!


Nancy Leigh De Moss further shares in her book that Saint Paul understood that: God does not exist for us, but that we exist for Him:

                                       Colossians 1:16-18

16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.

Paul on the Road to Damascus 

His secret was that he had settled the issue of why he was living. He was not living to please
himself or get his needs fulfilled. From the point of his conversion on the road to Damascus, he had one burning passion: to live for the glory and the pleasure of God. All that mattered to Him was knowing Christ and making Him known to others.

                                                   

Acts 20:24

24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.

Selfie with Imelda wine - 2012

I belong to Generation X, having been born between 1965 to 1982, but I too am a member of Generation I - the supposed "selfish selfie, self-entitled, rude" generation. I don't need to be born in the late 90's or in the 2000's to belong in it.

Selfie before a bake sale -2010

Actually...

We are all part of it.

We are all sinful.

We are all fallen.

We are all selfish. :(                                                                                      


It is only in dying to this sinful self do we break the bondage of the sin of pride.

In September 2013, I offered my life to God and decided to once and for all, let go and let God.

Selfie on 36th birthday  - Dec 2011

Extremely smily selfie -2012

I died to myself. I repented for my mountains of sins.

That was when I felt most joyful.

It was no longer I who was living, but Christ in me. :)




With this new and renewed spirit in me, though I still like taking self-portraits or selfies (Isn't it obvious? LOL. I deactivated for good from my personal Facebook account though since Sept 2013, to free myself of this obsession with selfies self.), I am no longer as selfish or that selfish (At the very least I do my best to be selfless daily, but I am only human). It is no longer about my wants, my needs, my will, but God's Wants, God's Needs, God's Will.

Surrendered wife selfie- Dec 2013

The Truth is, it's not about YOU. It's not about me. It's all about Him. The Truth may not always change MY circumstances -- at least not immediately -- but it can change and it has changed... ME. And the Truth has indeed set me FREE. :)

Taken by my son, Andre. Not a selfie. :)

I believe that in my submission to Him and to my husband will be my salvation.

I do not particularly belong now to any generation -- not X, not Y, and certainly not I.




I now belong to God and His Generation. :)


I know it because He said for me to:

 “Fear not, for I   have redeemed you; I have called you  by name, you are mine.   - (Isaiah 43:1)

Cute. Hehe. (Funny Tweeter)

Let's all be part of this new generation, dear sisters!

May we all be richly blessed!!! :)

(P.S. I really overdid the selfie thingie in this post. It was intentional to prove a point. Too many selfies does make one look selfish, vain, and conceited. Apologies if you got offended by the super duper many selfies. You may rest your eyes now. :)