Keeping it Real

Last week got the best of me. It felt like a total disaster. I was constantly in a rush, continuously battling with the Mini Fashionista, dropping things, forgetting things, breaking things....you get the picture.

When I have those kind of days, I appreciative the power of social media to lift me up. On Wednesday I posted the following status on Facebook:

"Bad things always happen in 3's .... 1) Roller ski, get caught in a downpour. 2) Finish skiing (drenched) only to find I have locked my keys and phone in the car and am now late to pick The Mini Fashionista up. 3) In a rush, once my +1 comes to my rescue, I forget to put my poles back in the car and run them over. Awesome, Just Awesome!"

Leave it to my friends to, as I said, lift me up by suggesting things like wine and ice cream. Okay, so some of them (including my dear sister) admitted to laughing, but in hind sight it was maybe just a bit comical. However the very expensive, broken poles...not so funny. 

Some of the comments included: 

"Is it bad that I am giggling right now...I see you as such a perfectionist and its nice to know you are human"

"I also laughed, but mostly because I was thinking ditto of what (she) said, and it is reassuring that others have days like this!"

On Thursday, I posted the following picture and title on Instagram. 

My Kitchen looks the way my life feels #disaster

Again, I received lots of comments (as I expected). 

"This is my life everyday. Just roll with it girlfriend. You're the most perfect person I know, so this will definitely not cramp your style."

"Hey lady, don't stress. You taught two kick-ass classes today, ran around town, took care of your kid, cooked, cleaned...you are winning this game."

So what is my point in sharing all of this? First, I was surprised about how many people see my life as being "perfect", because I can tell you with %100 confidence, it is far, far from it. Sure, overall I've got my "S**t" together, but perfect I am not. 

So why is that their impression?

Because social media (Instagram and FB in my case) is where we display the best of ourselves, our triumphs, our best "selfies", the cutest pictures of our kids, etc. And why not? Social media is how you display your personal "brand", your image. It should be the best of you. All of this, I believe can help to build you up and make you feel better about yourself,  just as it did for me this week. 

On the flip side, social media can also bring you down. It can make you feel inadequate, ugly, fat, lazy, unsuccessful...the list goes on.

Recently C&C friend and blogger, Hilary posted this quote on her Instagram feed. 

It resonated with me simply because like many, sometimes I feel that inadequacy that results from social media. Maybe if I stopped looking at blogs, Facebook and Instagram I wouldn't feel that way... 

So again, what is the point of all of this?  Going forward, my goal is to "keep it real" on social media, just as I have here on the blog. I am not perfect, and I never want anyone (friends or readers) to feel a sense of inadequacy because of something I post or write. If you missed my previous post on this topic you can find it here. It's worth a read.  

But fear not, I promise to use a filter. You may see my dirty kitchen, screaming toddler, spilt milk, makeup free face and greasy hair, but I promise to keep the gross and personal stuff...personal and private. There is such thing as TMI!