#icouldhavebeenaninstapost is an invitation to scroll through short shorts where we express our 'unpretty' moments in an OTT Insta-friendly manner and find strength. It's the answer to the question — how does one pick up the shards each day and piece them together? It's for the one who needs to hear these words: You are not alone. It's for the one who needs a hug, a shoulder to cry on. It's for the one who was mistold it's not okay to share, cry, and scream. It's for the one who knows that sometimes a bunch of right words is the only shield one needs. It's also for the one who turned a hashtag into a victory, a self-care ritual. After all, the emotions in the book could have been Instagram posts, too.

We have always liked to read differently; lately, reading (and writing) has changed drastically. In the era of social media, reading has become ‘snackable,’ i.e., words that are perfect for snacking and killing time in the middle of the day as we wait for a cab to arrive, coffee to brew, or a conference to start. Reading is now defined by its shareability via screenshot quotient, and the words have been commanded not to test our fading patience. This title reflects the new reading habits; it aspires to serve as a record for future generations of how the world read, shared, and wrote once upon a time. It’s not penned by a licensed medical expert but by an author who chose to reflect deeply. It’s written with the hope that an empty page in a notebook, a blank Word document on a screen, and a new post prompt with a blinking cursor can remind us to make time to feel (and accept) the emotions the way we did once. And that even as we hurry through life in the most fashionable, quick, and hashtag-friendly way, we remember to do that with honesty. The book hopes to be a nudge to embrace the idea that, like most things in life, scrolling through Instagram can be black, white, and grey.