Reclaiming Beauty in a Digital Age

By: Caroline Greb

Over a decade ago, I was in the midst of training as a

 ballet dancer. Instagram *just* became popular. These were the days you snapped a photo of your dinner, slapped a filter complete with a border on it, and shared what you were up to for your friends. In those days, hashtags really meant something. You’d post a picture, use a hashtag that a major account would look at for “entries” and then hope that that big account would see your picture and repost it. Occasionally my photos would get shared on large accounts and my followers would shoot up 100 or 200. Somehow, they grew to 2k then 3k. This was the Instagram I used to know. It felt, maybe, a bit more straightforward and somewhat less addictive or, at the very least, less at the whim of an algorithm and inundated with influencer culture. At the same time, it was a trite kind of beauty, one that served mostly as a quick dopamine hit when it was received well. Though I’ve stayed on Instagram through these years and developed healthier habits, I still have often wrestled with the underlying tensions at play as I have transitioned through a professional job, to college, to motherhood, and in my life as an artist. 

As the web and social media have become the very fabric of our society, we ought to be aware of how it not only changes the way we function as a culture, but also the way we actually think. We must realize that the internet is not just a tool or content that we can use, but that the platform itself has changed and rewired the very way we think as individuals and a society. We may be tempted to either be glued to our phones at every minute lest we miss something or to shun digital media altogether and just write it all off as bad. Is there a middle ground? Is there a place for beauty on social media? I think there is. 

So how should we think about beauty and God’s goodness in this screen filled world? Before we can enter social media purposefully, we must train our hearts and minds to discern between real beauty—the kind you can clasp onto with your fists and devour like a good 6 course meal—and quick, fast-paced, surface level 

beauty—a little snack that satisfies you for a minute until you find yourself hungry again. If we are to reclaim beauty, we ought not look to the same places that everyone else looks to find it. In order to have a valuable presence on or balance with social media, I would suggest that we can’t draw our primary inspiration or reality from it (though it may provide some inspiration of course!). We must have something else to bring—real, authentic beauty given by a real and authentic God. Whatever it is for you, whether books or music or museums, find what makes you wonder and see they are a balm to your soul.

We must also acknowledge that authentic beauty takes work, work that social media doesn’t naturally ask of us. It requires a willingness to look up and a certain slowness. Like a muscle that needs exercise to become strong, integrating time for routines of beauty-seeking into your life is a discipline of habit and wonder. Even though it is difficult and often inconvenient, I have continued creating off screen with physical paint throughout my young motherhood because painting never fails to slow me down and open my eyes to wonder again. My soul finds refreshment and I can turn from my easel to my toddler and say “look at this flower I’m painting! Do you see the care God put into every curve of the petal? Do you see that perfect hue of coral he chose for the tip?” After I started pointing out beauty throughout our ordinary days— “look at that tree! Look at this flower!”—she has started to do the same, exclaiming “look pink! SO pretty!” There an opportunity of discipleship can begin and I can ask “who made the flowers?” God did! How will you be ready to see beauty if you aren’t looking, especially beyond your screen? 

Along with the community and inspiration social media can provide, there seems to be danger around every corner with social media use—comparison, puffing yourself up (Proverbs 26:12), using it as an escape, dishonesty, distraction from faithfulness with the work before you, wrongful desires, and discontentment, just to name a few. As fellow writers at Risen Motherhood write: “We can be a light in a dark place and use social media redemptively. Or maybe, at the end of this, you realize that there isn’t a place for social media in your life at all—and that’s okay too.” (RM) There is no easy answer here. With Christian liberty comes Christian discernment, and we must all know and be convinced what is best for ourselves (Ephesians 5:15-17). But as you discern, I hope to offer you 4 general categories to help guide your thoughts as both a consumer and producer: 

Expectations

It is tempting, when building a business especially, to want to get quick fame, like I did in my early days while dancing. I know that even if my motivations are good (to help make income to provide for my family, spread the gospel, teach people what real beauty looks like), hoping for one magically viral reel will never replace the quiet work of small beginnings. Those small beginnings may sound a lot less glamorous, but are the real substantive work—me in my studio painting and praying, experiencing God’s beauty firsthand. Though my expectations often veer, I refocus my goals and remain expectant that my acts of trusting the Lord will bear real fruit. This keeps Christ central and casts my eyes on the Lord! Some good questions to ask yourself on this point are: What expectations do you bring to social media? What needs or wants are you hoping it will fulfill? What do you hope to gain from social media? 

Emotions (and the motivations they reveal)

We all have them. Emotions indicate to us where our hearts are, which are easily ensnared in the other world on our screens. Some questions I’d ask here are: Do you ever feel overwhelmed? If so, how do you typically respond (revving up or shutting down) and how might social media either contribute to your overwhelm or be an escape from it? While it’s not wrong to desire acceptance or being liked, how do you respond when it isn’t given online? Does this thing, social media account, trend, media, product, etc increase your affections for Christ more, or does it lead you away?

Purpose

Social media is inherently designed to formulate an addiction to mindlessness. It has a mind of its own. If you start to scroll or browse, the next thing you know 30 minutes have gone by and you haven’t accomplished much. As Annie Dillard famously wrote “how we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” You may not be looking to build a business or a following, but no matter what your purpose is, have one. We persevere in the small things in the hope that our communities will experience simple moments of beauty, intentionality, and creativity, and see God. Though I do hope I can continue to create artwork for the glory of God, to share his beauty and make Him known, I no longer post and try to find the exact right hashtag and filter to get 1000 more followers. I show up because my prayer is that the snippets of beauty I share ultimately spark a hunger for the Real in my audience. What are you hoping to share? What are you pointing people towards? Is what you’re taking in fueling this mission or detracting from it?

Influence

Last year, I noticed that my daughter’s first view in the morning was to find me nursing my son and on my phone. Even though I was doing productive tasks like grocery shopping or answering emails, I knew this wasn’t the picture of me first thing in the morning that I wanted her to have. I resolved to keep the first things first, and the second things second. Our primary spheres of influence should never be our social media accounts—they are the people in front of us. Though I hope to influence both for good (ultimately for God), I had to get my priorities straight. We ought to echo Paul “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1): Who is under your influence? Who are you influenced by? How can influence be a good thing in your life? What would it look like for you to use your influence (on social media and in real life) for the kingdom of God, to love him and make him known? 

Time and time again, I’ve asked myself if I should bow out of the Instagram race and just look directly at what’s in front of me (namely two really adorable babies and piles and piles of laundry.) But I have been convinced not to totally abandon it because it is a place where my mission is to share beauty as I find it, which ultimately leads to sharing the gospel. Ask yourself your motivation—and ask it often—remind yourself why you want to be there, and then be there in freedom and joy.