The Food Adventure
I live to eat, not eat to live. I have been a food lover since I can remember, but just consuming food is not my favorite thing to do. I love cooking as well, not just simple cooking but cooking with my own twist to make something of my own. From a very young age I was known for my quirky taste twists and I also began to alter normal food with my own style, like making roti (bread) of different shapes rather than circular rotis and eating it with Nutella (which was not traditionally eaten) rather than traditional vegetable or egg.
As I grew up I wanted to express my creativity with food and share it with my friends and people all around, that’s when I chose Pinterest and Instagram in doing so. Instagram and Pinterest are not just “some” social networking sites where I posted pictures of what I eat randomly or just give check-ins , rather I use it as a platform to voice my opinion on different foods and tell people how my food differentiates from how something is being made typically. I started researching for places to go and give reviews to them. I also started researching on foods and how food bloggers talk about their food, food not just made by them but also the those they consumed outside, what adorns different types of food. After scrutinizing thousand of blogs, deleting pictures and statuses, I finally set my foot on the right path in the world of Instagram and Pinterest to write, show and talk about food.
I use Instagram mostly to upload pictures of what I ate and made, where Pinterest was more of my personal recipe book. I write down my recipes and upload them with pictures in Pinterest for my followers to see and try if they wanted to. When I upload something on Instagram, I automatically get the option to pin it in Pinterest, that just takes the burden off my shoulder of uploading it twice. For me, Instagram is not just about showing what I eat and Pinterest is not just about pinning things I would “like” to make or have, it’s more my portal to express and share what I like.
These sites helped me to rediscover my interest in food and learn so much about it. Chitra Agarwal, an Indian food blogger on Instagram has been an inspiration for me because of her love for spices and interest in making blend of household spices as well. I am a big lover of spice and always mix different spices to create an unique flavor in my food, something traditional yet extraordinary, hence with help of this food blogger under the Instagram name “chitra” has helped me to discover how to blend spices and make something of my own.
My audience, my followers helped to think more about food and encouraged me to share my interest with them. They taught me to be confident about my creation. In the Slate article, Hiebert wrote that people overshare “ due to our subconscious attempts at controlling anxiety” which is somewhat true for me as I used food blogging in Instagram and Pinterest to control some of anxiety even without being aware of this as a purpose. At first I would be nervous about bringing difference to my food , adding different spices and ingredients. “What would they think?”, sauntered through my mind all the time, but as I started posting pictures on Instagram, pinning my own creation in Pinterest and seeing how my audience appreciated my efforts coaxed me to participate in more such activities that would not only uplift my mood, but people could also learn something from me.
Pinterest and Instagram allowed me to keep a record of where I ate,what I ate and what I made, hence I could discover even more places and food rather than the same things. I also could see what I did before and try to do something different rather than creating the same twists, which would bore followers and make me question my creativity in something that has always interested me. Instagram and Pinterest were not just for my own food, also for what my family members like my sister and mother made. I could convey their recipes to my followers and later add a twist to them as well. My personal food journey became a journey that was not so personal but with people like me, those who loved food and talking about them as well.
Talking about food and sharing my food knowledge and adventure with people were mostly for myself, something that would help me describe myself rather than what my parents wanted me to be or taught me to love. I wanted to be more than someone who followed rules, someone described not just by some numbers but my things I love the most. These two social networking sites gave me an identity of my own, a sense of belonging that I got from my followers and people I followed as well. I was able to tell people what I thought about food, both created by me and them as well. I also felt a unique sense of control when I was asked about how to do something with certain types of food. More than the sense of reliability, control or identity, I loved when people made something following my recipe and appreciated it- that is what truly motivated me to continue on this delicious food path.
My followers understood me. They were my “food family” who shared the same love, passion and interest as I did. It was more than posting about food, restaurants and recipes- the whole idea of people with big appetite talking about food and sharing their thoughts just made more sense to me. I belonged somewhere and that made me continue with many things that I was not interested in as well. After a long day, when I am either exhausted or frustrated I rely on Instagram or Pinterest to freshen my mind, their pictures and talks about food screams to me after a tiring day.
I rediscovered my love of food through Pinterest and Instagram,ever since I joined these social networking sites a delicious journey on foot path started for me adorned by support and encouragement.
