Iridescent Rainbows

The other day, I met a woman with the most beautifully curated Instagram feed I’d ever seen. She loves the color yellow, and she’s a branding/graphic designer who is obviously very good at her job. The mix of her images really hit me.  The full profile is a very satisfying collage of words, textures, and environments, all in a clean yellow/gray/cream palette.

Admittedly, I don’t “get around” much on Instagram.  It’s pretty much Persian cats, ChowChow dogs, and panda bears distracting me from the news (all the fluff!!!!), along with a few friends who inspire me creatively.  I guess I focus more on curating the feed I view than the feed others view.

Anyway, it really got me started thinking about my Instagram profile and what sort of impression it gives off.  I’ve discussed branding on this blog before, and to a very conscious extent, my Instagram page is a branding choice as an actor.  I’m selective about what I deem worthy to add to the “story” of my life, knowing that it’ll be there forever.  (I’m definitely not someone who goes back and deletes posts that don’t get enough likes, something that is apparently normal for high schoolers using the app?!)

So I went and looked at my Instagram profile.  Here’s my current Instagram feed:

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My first impression was color.  Which makes sense because, yes, I happen to love color.  In fact (embarrassing story alert!), when I was a kid playing with my siblings, my “team” name was always The Iridescent Rainbows.  #nerd #terribleteamnames

My second impression was warm. At first I thought, “Well, maybe that’s just a seasonal thing, as a reaction to all this winter?”  But it seems to be a year-round thing, so that was an interesting adjective to add to my self-knowledge: warmth.  (But what does it mean?  Am I a warm person, or am I just craving warmth around me? Important questions, no definitive answers.)

My third impression came as no surprise. “She goes to a lot of shows!”  Duh.

Ironically, I note that there aren’t a lot of words in my feed, despite being an audiobook narrator and a blogger.  And a singer and actor, for that matter!  Maybe because words are my job, I enjoy the respite of simple images on Instagram.

I also noticed there aren’t a lot of pictures of me in my profile, which I knew was semi-conscious for a couple reasons.  One, it’s really hard to take a good selfie, in my opinion, and I don’t have the patience (or interest) to practice, honestly.  But two, I also prefer to show whoever is following me what I see, rather than who I am.  I don’t know, I guess I feel like you learn more about someone by seeing what they find notable/beautiful/exciting than by seeing what they look like.  Does anyone else feel that way?

Now, if only I could get the kitties and puppies into my own feed, I’d be all set…

#rainbows #Branding #puppies #color #selfreflection #warmth #kitties #Instagram #yellow