Too fake to be true

So, it turns out I’ve got a new bugbear in life! Always fun to have something to rant about – and sometimes these things are fairly superficial, aren’t they…but in this case, I realised there was a deeper meaning in it for me…

I don’t know whether this is true for everyone, but my Facebook feed is being invaded by a bunch of AI-generated images of nature. Probably due to the time of year, I’m specifically getting bombarded by autumnal (fall) pictures full of colourful leaves.

Now, don’t get me wrong, the pictures are rather beautiful, with incredibly bold hues of yellow, orange and red. (One picture even had a tree covered with pink leaves – is that even a thing??)  I can be quite a fan of imagined landscapes which can really draw us into a totally different world – for example, I was captivated by the spectacular natural world portrayed on the big screen in the Avatar films.

My bugbear is that these autumnal pictures are being passed off as real images.

But the reality is that they are just too fake to be true.

They are too perfect – there are leaves strewn on the ground but only where they look pretty, not necessarily under the trees. And the colours are too vivid – more so than I’ve ever seen in real life, including on one memorable fall visit to New England many moons ago.

And yet, there are so many people loving these images through their reactions and comments. They are even asking quite frequently where they can go and find this incredible place depicted in the image.

You might ask, what’s the harm, if people are simply finding joy in an AI-generated image, a bit like a painting?  Well, I’ve thought about this quite a bit, and I think it’s because a painting is quite obviously a representation of reality but not reality itself. The painting is the artist’s unique expression, having drawn inspiration from something real. Some paintings aim to look incredibly lifelike, whilst others take things in a much more abstract direction. But we know that we’re looking at a piece of art, not reality.

With these AI-generated pictures, I worry that people are being trained to only love and marvel at impossibly perfect images of ‘nature’.  Pictures where the sun is always shining, where the colours pop like a perfect rainbow, and where everything is just so. (By the way, I feel similarly about real photos which have been edited to the point where the colours are totally over-saturated compared to what we really see – perhaps a sunset picture, or all those edited aurora photos which have circulated after recent solar storms.)

Real nature is absolutely stunning – but it’s also a bit more…well…messy…! Think about walking through an autumnal wood – it’s great when the leaves are crisp and dry, but what about when they are damp and mouldy?  What about when the path becomes a muddy quagmire after heavy rainfall?  Still fun, but not that image of easy perfection!

Real nature can be incredibly striking, but it can also be gentler. Sunsets can sometimes be breathtaking, with bold colours daubed all over the sky during that magic time of day as the sun disappears and nighttime is ushered in. But at other times, sunsets can be quieter with more muted colours. I remember once watching the sunset with a group of campers on top of a Scottish Munro, before we all retreated into our tents for the night. I was busy taking photos and contemplating how gorgeous the sunset was, when suddenly one of the guys expressed his disappointment, saying he had expected there to be sunset colours streaking all over the sky.

But here’s the thing. Real life isn’t always spectacular and perfect. It absolutely sometimes is, and we can totally revel in those incredible moments!!  But most often in my experience, real life is a bit more complex, messy and more ‘everyday’ pretty.

By the way, here’s the real pic I took, which represented what we saw that night on the Munro…

And here’s a pic that I’ve artificially enhanced, to make it pop a bit more…what do you think???

Surely the secret is to learn to embrace it all. To really live in the moment. To truly accept and appreciate each moment for the uniqueness it brings.

Hopping through a muddy lane? Why not, we can clean our boots later! Enjoying a calmer sunset? Oh yeah, it’s still so beautiful when you get absorbed in it, rather than wishing that it looked different.

And of course, we can extend this metaphor beyond the natural world. How much do we accept each moment for what it brings, rather than wishing our lives were playing out differently?

I’m not talking about obviously wrong times – we shouldn’t accept being badly treated by others, for example. But what about if we could accept all these everyday moments we live through for what they really are – even if they aren’t as spectacular, joyous and easy as we might ideally wish for? What if we could receive them with gratitude, without feeling the need to artificially amp up the metaphorical colour?

Our healing journeys are going to be filled with highs and lows, and all the hues in between. I really believe that part of the secret of navigating this journey is to view it as our big, exciting, personal adventure – an adventure that will eventually take us to our most longed-for destination!  But if we’re going to get there, we have to be willing to go on the ride…

If you want to dive deeper into your personal adventure, and reclaim your calm, confidence and calling after your life storm, check out my Sing After The Storm 90-day 1:1 Intensive! In this work, I encourage you to nurture your mind, emotions, body and spirit on your journey in a way that works for you, as the special, unique human being that you are! I would be honoured to accompany and guide you.