And also not showing my children’s faces or any of my family and friends’ faces online.

This is the decision I had to make when I came back to using Instagram and writing on this blog. It wasn’t something I had always thought about. In fact, I never really cared about being exposed or showing my face publicly. I have always been very comfortable being seen in the public eye. I also admit that in the past, I did crave that attention — to be seen. It was part of my identity.

Something happened about a month ago. One day, I woke up feeling uncomfortable — almost cringe — about seeing my face online or exposing my children’s faces online. It wasn’t because I was insecure about how I look or fearful about our privacy, although I can now see that protecting our private lives is a good thing.

My reasoning isn’t something you would expect. I started thinking about what people did 100 or 200 years ago when it came to socialization. Of course, there was no social media, no internet, and no smartphones. I imagine people back then socialized outside their homes — with neighbors, work acquaintances, church fellowships, and family members who lived nearby. These people didn’t have to post pictures of themselves somewhere to be recognized. People saw them in person and connected with them that way. The thought of putting your pictures out publicly would have been unimaginable.

I also read somewhere that humans, before the invention of social media — even before modern-day technology (I’m speaking pre–World War and even pre-industrial times) — were naturally and innately private. For thousands of years, humans interacted with one another in person. Of course, they also connected through letters, but most everyday socializing happened face to face, not online.

With that being said, most people didn’t really know what someone looked like unless they met them in real life. There were paintings of renowned individuals, but the majority of ordinary people couldn’t afford portraits or photographs. Those things were nonessential and expensive. The idea of constantly being photographed or having your picture taken is a modern-day occurrence. Privacy wasn’t an issue because being private was simply part of life.

Today, we see people’s faces from all over the world. We have easy access to almost anyone because of social media. Our culture is normalizing something we haven’t historically done — something that goes against how we have naturally functioned for thousands of years. It normalizes everyday exposure online. It normalizes connection through the digital world.

I am not saying this is bad. I believe humans can adapt to almost anything, and there are many good outcomes that come from the online world. What I am asking is this: Is it really necessary to put all of our sacred private lives online — even our faces?

What I realized is that our face is sacred because God created us in His image. We don’t even know the face of God because it is the most sacred of all. Ideally, the people who know us — and know what we look like — are our family, our friends, our neighbors, and those we are acquainted with in person.

For me personally, I find that there is something intimate about a face. It carries identity and presence. It is deeply personal and not meant for mass consumption. Setting that kind of boundary with social media is, I guess, a good start for me.

To be fair, setting your social media to private may be all you need. If you’ve already done that, great. If you haven’t, please know that I am not judging you. This is simply my personal conviction and preference.

Not showing my face doesn’t mean I am completely private. I intentionally and consciously choose what to share and what I want people to know. I have no problem sharing my thoughts, reflections, and creative pursuits on these platforms. If there is anything I choose to withhold, it will simply be my face — and the faces of those I want to protect.