#Aesthetic

Lately, bloggers and Instagram users have been more focused than necessary on aesthetic. For those of you who don't know what I mean by aesthetic, God bless. We've all seen those Instagram accounts WHERE EVERY SINGLE POST LOOKS BASICALLY THE SAME. You can call it "aesthetically pleasing" but you wanna know what I call it? Boring. I've said it so many times, and every time I do I get a totally different response.. but my aesthetic is myself. Who gives a flip about color choice and photo editing and all that junk. Let me explain my thoughts on all this that has come to be "Instagram game" "#aesthetic" and all that BS. 

All an aesthetic is is a color choice that the instagrammer chooses. They then take pictures that match the theme and edit all the photos before posting with the same filters and apps. WHAT. Why do people feel like they need to do this? I've been emailed multiple times from bloggers who are just starting out asking me what an aesthetic is and if they need one. NO. That is my answer.

My aesthetic is myself. I'm going to grow and change over the years and the one thing I hate more than anything is feeling restricted. If I can only post every other week because it's that hard to find photos that match my theme -- it's a no deal.

I don't know about you, but I love color. I love keeping people on their toes. I love surprises. If every single picture on my account looks exactly the same.. what's the point in scrolling through and liking old pictures? I mean it's not like you missed anything as a follower, they're all the same. That's probably what drives me insane about this whole thing. Everyone chooses if not the same, super similar themes. Why do you think I'm gonna want to follow you if 30,000 accounts are doing the same thing. I follow people for them. If I think you're a cool person based off your feed, duh I'm gonna follow. I never follow for the aesthetic.

Not gonna lie.. I do edit my photos. I've written two posts about Instagram -- check them here & here. But not all my photos look the exact same. Lately I've been in a paper kick so some of my photos have something with my desk or stationery or a notebook. It's only because school is just starting back and I'm trying to find my perfect balance y'all I promise. Or since I'm trying to promote Rocksbox, I have pictures of my jewelry. My feed has a habit of slipping into the same old boring aesthetic train if I'm not careful.

When I get comments like "aesthetic on point" "theme on point" "loving your theme lately" "wow love your feed" I don't think that I need more posts that look exactly like that in order to get maximum engagement on my posts. Instead I take that to mean that the quality in which I am posting with is really good, and that I should keep it up. I only post things that mean something to me, or have any importance to me whatsoever. That's part of how I keep my aesthetic myself. Sometimes I will post a smores picture or something from the mountains just to keep everyone on their toes (heads up I'm off to Table Rock again for Labor Day weekend, so expect some photos).

And to be honest, when I get those comments.. it kinda ticks me off. It's like "well I'm glad you're loving my account but please don't focus on what my photos look like in a grid formation with my bio and profile photo above them. I want you to focus on my captions, on what's actually in the photo, what's on my blog." -- just my thoughts.

 You'll also come to realize that if you keep up a good "theme" or "aesthetic" or "insta game on point" then almost any photo will look good with it if you just want to post a random snap.

Also, am I the only one that wished more people "spammed me" with likes? I mean my photos from like last spring break are so good and so fun I just wish more people saw them.. Same with like all summer long. If y'all ever need something to do or to procrastinate doing something important go spam me with likes pretty please.

All those Youtube videos and blog posts that even mention aesthetic drive me up the wall honestly. If you scroll through my instagram, you will see a variety of photos of all sorts of things all edited differently. I hate being boring. Not only do I love keeping others on their toes, I have to keep myself on my toes! Honestly me being the scatterbrained person I am, I totally forgot the point of this post so let's see if I can reign it back in.

I'm not saying that you can't like a particular color. I'm not saying you can't post a certain type of photo. I'm just saying be brave. Every once and a while post a photo that's a little "off your Insta game" and just see what happens. Sometimes it's those photos that receive the most likes -- at least on my account.

one of my most liked posts -- 4th of July 2015

Just a thought for any of those getting "serious" about their blogs/instagrams. Have fun, okay? Don't be boring! Stand out! Be unique! Oh and you.. As cheesy as all that was - I do mean it. Be you.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on aesthetic and Instagram themes below...

P.S. My insta game is a little aesthetic-y and boring right now, but if you wanna follow me this weekend is gonna be great! Search @classycathleen_ or click here