May We All Embrace Salma Hayek’s Carefree Instagram Attitude in 2022

It’s the new year, which means Instagram Stories and Twitter timelines are undoubtedly filled with memes and captions along the lines of, “my 2022 mood” or “this is the kind of energy I’m trying to bring to 2022.” Yes, maybe we should all embrace Rihanna using a wine glass as an accessory while walking the streets of New York City now that Governor Kathy Hochul is moving to make to-go cocktails permanent. But, as an alternative, let me present an even better 2022 inspiration, a one-stop shop of a mood board that, if followed, will instruct you in having the most low stress, care free 2022 you desire. I give you: Salma Hayek’s Instagram.

Over on her Instagram page, Hayek is currently giving an absolute masterclass on how to live your best life, both on and off social media. Every day brings a new gem better than the one prior. The journey begins upon visiting Hayek’s profile, where one is instantly greeted with her bio, an incredible and never-ending array of emojis. The use of some are obvious. The Mexican flag represents where she was born, while the French flag represents her husband, François-Henri Pinault. Others, though, are less clear. A cactus? A fox? Three soccer balls? Whatever, just embrace it. This is Salma Hayek’s Instagram and anything goes.

Now, Hayek has been providing grade-A content for years (2,001 posts to be exact), but for the present purposes, lets focus on her 2022 content. On New Year’s Day, Hayek welcomed us into 2022 with a shot of her striking a pose in a some sort of water-filled cave, most likely on a tropical beach somewhere. I can only assume this beach is where M. Night Shyamalan filmed Old, and Hayek’s anti-aging powers are just too strong for this evil cove.

Alongside the photo, the actress wishes her followers a Happy New Year in, not one, not two, but three languages. It’s a simple note, but her vernacular inclusivity makes it an iconic one.

Just a day later and Hayek is back, seemingly still in that same cove (and still not rapidly aging despite it). This time, we get a shot of the actress’ back. It’s not a great photo, but who cares? It’s an action shot of her frolicking through the questionably-colored water. “Ready for new adventures,” Hayek captioned the post, translating it into Spanish, but this time, leaving her French audience in the dust.

On day three of the new year, Hayek left the beach for an afternoon by the pool, and this time she is not messing around. She looks completely in her element in her low-cut cheetah print bikini, enjoying a cup of coffee and the beautiful ocean behind her. “First #coffee of the first #monday of the first month of a brand new year,” she wrote. In 2022, it’s about celebrating the little things.

From the beach, to the pool, to some tree branches, day four brought us Hayek embracing #peace and #nature, which is what she captioned two images of her climbing on some winding trees in a red cotton dress. This caption, for the first time in 2022, was not translated at all. But again, there are no rules here.

And that brings us to Thursday, a big day for Hayek and her Instagram, as she reached 20 million followers. Twenty million people who are taking in this must-have content on a daily basis (minus a few hundreds of thousands of bots, of course). You may be wondering, how did Hayek celebrate this milestone? Did she get a “2” and a “0” balloon and have a photoshoot in front of them like a true Instagram influencer? Of course not. Have you learned nothing? No, Hayek spread her twenty digits out on a marble floor so you can count her beautifully manicured nails one. by. one.

Hayek’s Instagram is so enviable because she woke up this morning, saw she has more followers than there are people in Chile and said to someone on hand, “I have the best idea. I’m going to spread my fingers and toes. Can you take a picture of it?” And that’s exactly what she did. This is authentic content, and we’re not talking about the new trend where influencers post not-staged but still-clearly-staged photos a la Emma Chamberlain. We’re talking snap a photo, throw up some hashtags, and watch you adoring fans fawn over you perched upon a tree branch. Now, that’s the vibe we’re going for in 2022. You’re invited to join.