Cancer And Behind The Scenes

Things aren’t always what they appear.

Movies are a great example of that.

Here’s ‘Behind-the-scenes’ filming The Grand Budapest Hotel

Deception plays a role of central importance in films and for the purposes of cinema storytelling these artistic liberties are commonplace.

Social media is also a prime example.

What you see of people’s social media postings isn’t always ‘real life’ and there are plenty of deceptions to be had as users selectively and creatively portray the world they want the world to see.

Call it artistic license, call it misinformation, call it fake news, call it what you want but social media is full of masks and distorted realities where posts are carefully curated.

But not everyone can be accused of You’re not being “You”, as some of us are actually showing the raw, real and ‘heart on our sleeves’ us.

Cancer has a way of stripping back pretence to the extent that what you see is what you get.

This is an experience that induces a highly fragile psychological state and so emotions are laid bare. It’s hard to ‘cover-up’ in the style of a movie set our chaotic mentalities and excessive worries.

Of course, there are those that do pretend and some go as far as pretending to have cancer in order to prey on others and to solicit money on GoFundMe. The less said about these soulless manipulators the better but please be vigilant of Munchausen by Internet (MBI).

But for those of us that are involved in the actual reality of cancer then you get the real deal.

You will see people posting themselves when they are at their worst. There is no before and after. There is no airbrushing of content or photos.

What you are getting is the lived experience in all its ugly glory. And that isn’t always trauma, pain or anguish.

Sometimes what you get is the here and now in all its glorious, heart-affirming positive vulnerability.

For many cancer patients social media is a real outlet to be who they really are at a time when it really matters.

For many of us, posting is a powerful way of enhancing psychological well-being.

When someone is genuinely genuine, you can (mostly) tell, especially if you are going through something similar. Okay, not always 100%, but there are signs that can give the game away.

Of course, there are plenty of behind the scenes shots that we never ever see but that’s what is called a private life. I don’t want people to see me when I first wake up as I crawl from my slumber!

We all cope with cancer treatment differently and we all represent ourselves differently to the world whether in person or on social media.

For those that might say, ‘We only see the outside and the face that people want to show us’, I say, not always.

Sometimes the outside is a true representation of the inside and what you see is what you get!

I’d like to think that what you see on the ‘socials’ is what you see when I’m down the middle aisle of Lidl!