Six Years of "George Food Reviews"

Over six years ago, I began posting on my Instagram account. But why?  

"Out of boredom," some guessed. "A love for humor," others claimed.   

"He did it for the money," said my mom.  

Was it a secret obsession with food? A superiority complex? An idea that I was some kind of connoisseur? My most dedicated readers know the truth.   

I have no love for food.   

The real reason will surprise nobody: I was an eighteen-year-old high school senior with average grades, average athletic ability, and an average work ethic. And my future was looming ever closer. The silence from my college applications was like TV static in a horror movie.  

I was nervous. "What am I even good at?" Despite my work ethic, I was ambitious — wicked ambitious. That's not a great combination (and I knew it). It was this low-level anxiety that best explains my motivation. I needed a way to get that energy out. So I just started writing and posting. I didn't think about it too hard.  

It was just for my friends, to make them laugh, and maybe to make them think a little better of me. I thought then—as I still do—that life shouldn't be taken too seriously. This was a comfort to me, so I wanted to share it. I also wanted to convince myself it was true.  

Those old fears have never left me, even though I'm better at dealing with them. I'm 24, so I spend hours every day trying to figure out what to do with my life. Like my ancestors before me... and also like many of you reading this.   

Today I scrolled through this account expecting to feel the same vague nostalgia and indifference. But this time, I read the comments. Comments YOU left. Comments from old friends, new friends, friends I don't talk to anymore. Friends I've never really talked to in the first place. Those shock me the most.  

This account taught me some good things. But the greatest gift by far was reading the comments you left, and imagining the smiles on your faces — and even, sometimes, the laughter — you told me you felt.   

Author and philanthropist John Green once spoke about the "way down deep darkness" inside us all. Today, your comments have been a light that shined on the way deep down darkness inside of me. I am so grateful.  

The reason I started writing on this account was not for fame, money, or ambition. It was fear, and love. Thank you for showing love back to me.

And also I was bored.

Originally posted on Instagram