My lungs failed me. My heart aggressively stopped as if I had hit the brakes on a moving vehicle.
"The group is only for vsco or aesthetic accounts like mine, sorry"
The girl was just prompting my next question. I exhaled the air I was holding in and typed out a sad, sad question:
"My account isn't aesthetic enough for you?"
No wonder there's an entire brand based on the slogan, "Social Media Seriously Harms Your Mental Health."
Rejection, Instagram, and Exclusion
This situation reminded me a lot of elementary school recess. Recess was my least favorite part of the day because I knew it meant exclusion. I can't recall another time where I've felt so alone.
Maybe you can relate, maybe you can't. Either way, the exclusion from this "creators group" felt like a quick dismissal from the girl with blonde pigtails.
So what do you do when you're faced with exclusion?
The antibiotic to exclusion:
Self-truths.
Self-truths are what helped me to rationalize this elementary rejection. There are some important self truths I want to share with you:
Content creation is all about unique creativity. That's the beauty of it! There is no one-size-fits-all-model.
Exclusion is just an action that further projects the spotlight onto you. Use this as an opportunity to prove yourself to you. Not to them.
The best way to combat exclusion and rejection is to learn to live in the peace of seclusion.
None of these things are bad things. They are revelations of self-growth, self-improvement, and personal development. Rejection often gives us more opportunities than acceptance ever could.
"Rejection often gives us more opportunities than acceptance ever could."
Use these opportunities. Build and rebuild yourself. You are much healthier than the hiccups of exclusion and stings of rejection. Give yourself some more credit. And some more grace.
All The Peace,
AK.