I scroll through elaborate cakes and cupcake designs I know I’ll never be able to create (elaborate enough to actually make me grateful I’m not a full time cake decorator right now). I scroll through athletics running and exercising at rates and paces I know my body will never be able to achieve. I scroll through amazing photographs of nature at places and angles with light sources I know I will never be able to visit or capture. I scroll through small businesses making much larger impacts, more than I will have ever made through my tiny cake and cupcake business. I scroll through families and children and smiles and selfies and activities and vacations portraying a richness, fullness, happiness, contentment I know I will never be able to live up to. I tell myself it’s ok, I tell myself it doesn’t actually matter, I tell myself to not even really pay attention… and yet I continue to scroll, continue to follow, continue to compare.
I realize that we’re all living and posting and sharing somewhat of a beautiful poison laced lie of who we really are. It’s maybe woven together with some some great truths and some humbling grace, stitched together with the snippets of the few best moments we managed to capture... but overall I think we all know that what we post, what we share, and what we see posted, really isn’t an entirely true representation of reality, of anyone’s reality. It’s the semi-staged, filtered, photoshopped version of our best selves.
Why are we so obsessed with looking so good and so accomplished on the outside, while attempting to live up to and obsessing over wanting to look as good as what everyone else is portraying and posting? Why is it so important to us that we share this fancy version of ourselves to the public, while struggling and hiding the real private version of ourselves?
I stop for a moment and wonder if anything I post has anyone thinking this about me. Am I posting things that people are looking at that cause them to feel less than, feel lower than, feel inadequate in comparison to. I surely hope not because that is not my intent… but I know that that is how so many people in my feeds make me feel, so it does make me pause and wonder a little. Does anyone even see me, does anyone even hear the message I’m trying to share, does anyone (beyond myself) even care what I am actually doing in my life? We are all pretty well wrapped up in all the details of our own little lives, so it’s probably pretty safe to say that no, no one really cares about my life, my journey, my adventures. I’ve made a pact with myself to live authentically, to live fully and richly, to share as honestly and humbly as I possibly can. I try not filter and perfect and paint a flawless picture of my life that is of a different hue than what is painted on my inside.
But nearly each and every one of us, myself included, still tend to post and share away the best and the amazing moments of our lives… Occasionally a few of the not-so-amazing… just enough to give the perception we’re still “real” but surely not enough to allow anyone to think failures and nervous break downs are part of our daily norm.
I know I struggle with this if I’m brutally honest. I so want to share about what I’m learning, seeing, discovering about myself through this journey God has me on. I want to share the beauty in the nature around me, hoping to help, to encourage, to remind others to stop and slow and breathe in the beauty of God’s creation around them.
I realize that we’re all living and posting and sharing somewhat of a beautiful poison laced lie of who we really are. It’s maybe woven together with some some great truths and some humbling grace, stitched together with the snippets of the few best moments we managed to capture... but overall I think we all know that what we post, what we share, and what we see posted, really isn’t an entirely true representation of reality, of anyone’s reality. It’s the semi-staged, filtered, photoshopped version of our best selves.
Why are we so obsessed with looking so good and so accomplished on the outside, while attempting to live up to and obsessing over wanting to look as good as what everyone else is portraying and posting? Why is it so important to us that we share this fancy version of ourselves to the public, while struggling and hiding the real private version of ourselves?
I stop for a moment and wonder if anything I post has anyone thinking this about me. Am I posting things that people are looking at that cause them to feel less than, feel lower than, feel inadequate in comparison to. I surely hope not because that is not my intent… but I know that that is how so many people in my feeds make me feel, so it does make me pause and wonder a little. Does anyone even see me, does anyone even hear the message I’m trying to share, does anyone (beyond myself) even care what I am actually doing in my life? We are all pretty well wrapped up in all the details of our own little lives, so it’s probably pretty safe to say that no, no one really cares about my life, my journey, my adventures. I’ve made a pact with myself to live authentically, to live fully and richly, to share as honestly and humbly as I possibly can. I try not filter and perfect and paint a flawless picture of my life that is of a different hue than what is painted on my inside.
But nearly each and every one of us, myself included, still tend to post and share away the best and the amazing moments of our lives… Occasionally a few of the not-so-amazing… just enough to give the perception we’re still “real” but surely not enough to allow anyone to think failures and nervous break downs are part of our daily norm.
I know I struggle with this if I’m brutally honest. I so want to share about what I’m learning, seeing, discovering about myself through this journey God has me on. I want to share the beauty in the nature around me, hoping to help, to encourage, to remind others to stop and slow and breathe in the beauty of God’s creation around them.
But if I whittle it all down to the very very roots…is God honestly at the very core, the crux, the meat and bones entirely of what I am posting and writing and sharing? Or is there some selfishness, some conceit, some “see-me” identity crisis still going on within me that is a silent underlier wanting to take the credit instead of God? Well of course there is… that is the unfortunate nature of the fallen world we live in. But is it ok to just write that off as an excuse, as a pretty little cop-out thanks to the apple Eve gave to Adam?? I have cursed that damn apple for so many years of my life. Oh how life could have been so different, should have been so much better… but that wasn’t the plan, that wasn’t the reality for the world.
I think I need to spend some time coming to a better relationship with that apple, I need to switch my outlook from disgust and disappointment for the sin now surrounding me, to somehow embracing the struggle, enduring the difficulties as a result of the apple as great gifts of growth, as grace and gracious blessing and abundance. Some day I am going to get to meet Eve in person, and I probably should not still be harboring all this animosity I currently have towards her. I need to figure out a way to somehow thank her, somehow show my appreciation for the journey I got to experience through the aftermath and trajectory of her and Adam’s choices thousands of years ago. But that’s a different blog post for a different day.
Today I continue sitting in the tension of the social media reality vs perception. The popular addiction nearly every single person has fallen victim to, and nearly every single person has knowingly and unknowingly fed into.
We post the perfect, we believe in the beauty, we boast of the bold, we allow ourselves to feel defeated in the daily barrage of society’s better-thans. We don’t want to feel this way, we don’t want to come off this way, and yet we do… we continue to post, we continue to follow. We continue to paint the portrait of our lives for the public to see and we continue to judge ourselves in a comparison that isn’t neither accurate nor attainable.
It’s a messed up thing we’ve created isn’t it. A gloriously connected, instantaneous, feel good, helpful, hopeful, dreadful, marvelous thing. We can build each other up and tear each other down all in the same key stroke. We can believe in and feel a bold greatness in ourselves, and fall short and dive to the empty ache of disappointment within ourselves, all in a matter of a few clicks and swipes. We can share our grand story of God’s provision and purpose while at the same time oddly taking personal credit for all the things and accomplishments God has ultimately granted and gifted us with.
I’m not even quite sure what to do with this reality, with this juxtaposition. I know the intents of my heart and mind are to share and give all the credit to the Creator of it all - the master artist of life and love, but I’m also aware of the selfish and egocentric bend of my sin that leaves me checking the interactive responses and likes on all that which I post, write, and share... a small illustration of the selfishness, vanity, and gainful pride within me.
“May the words of my mouth and meditations of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer." ~Psalm 19:13
May the words and intents of my social media presence, may the meditations and reactions within me as I read everyone else social media posts, be pleasing to the Lord. May I put the Lord first, to be my rock and my redeemer. May the Words of the Lord be the words I choose to fill me and fulfill me, not the words in my social media feeds. May the love of my Heavenly father fill me with the purpose and validation to which He ultimately created me for and to become. May I allow His truths to fill me, so the world’s half-truths won’t deplete me. May I seek Him, honor Him, love Him, worship Him in all I say and do - in all I share and all I represent.
May all of who I am and what I represent fully represent and point to the Lord, may the Lord clearly be seen and found through the lens of my eyes and my social media presence.
{ Next blog post "No Puddles Mama" HERE }
{ Previous blog "My Health, My Self, My God" HERE }
I think I need to spend some time coming to a better relationship with that apple, I need to switch my outlook from disgust and disappointment for the sin now surrounding me, to somehow embracing the struggle, enduring the difficulties as a result of the apple as great gifts of growth, as grace and gracious blessing and abundance. Some day I am going to get to meet Eve in person, and I probably should not still be harboring all this animosity I currently have towards her. I need to figure out a way to somehow thank her, somehow show my appreciation for the journey I got to experience through the aftermath and trajectory of her and Adam’s choices thousands of years ago. But that’s a different blog post for a different day.
Today I continue sitting in the tension of the social media reality vs perception. The popular addiction nearly every single person has fallen victim to, and nearly every single person has knowingly and unknowingly fed into.
We post the perfect, we believe in the beauty, we boast of the bold, we allow ourselves to feel defeated in the daily barrage of society’s better-thans. We don’t want to feel this way, we don’t want to come off this way, and yet we do… we continue to post, we continue to follow. We continue to paint the portrait of our lives for the public to see and we continue to judge ourselves in a comparison that isn’t neither accurate nor attainable.
It’s a messed up thing we’ve created isn’t it. A gloriously connected, instantaneous, feel good, helpful, hopeful, dreadful, marvelous thing. We can build each other up and tear each other down all in the same key stroke. We can believe in and feel a bold greatness in ourselves, and fall short and dive to the empty ache of disappointment within ourselves, all in a matter of a few clicks and swipes. We can share our grand story of God’s provision and purpose while at the same time oddly taking personal credit for all the things and accomplishments God has ultimately granted and gifted us with.
I’m not even quite sure what to do with this reality, with this juxtaposition. I know the intents of my heart and mind are to share and give all the credit to the Creator of it all - the master artist of life and love, but I’m also aware of the selfish and egocentric bend of my sin that leaves me checking the interactive responses and likes on all that which I post, write, and share... a small illustration of the selfishness, vanity, and gainful pride within me.
“May the words of my mouth and meditations of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer." ~Psalm 19:13
May the words and intents of my social media presence, may the meditations and reactions within me as I read everyone else social media posts, be pleasing to the Lord. May I put the Lord first, to be my rock and my redeemer. May the Words of the Lord be the words I choose to fill me and fulfill me, not the words in my social media feeds. May the love of my Heavenly father fill me with the purpose and validation to which He ultimately created me for and to become. May I allow His truths to fill me, so the world’s half-truths won’t deplete me. May I seek Him, honor Him, love Him, worship Him in all I say and do - in all I share and all I represent.
May all of who I am and what I represent fully represent and point to the Lord, may the Lord clearly be seen and found through the lens of my eyes and my social media presence.
{ Next blog post "No Puddles Mama" HERE }
{ Previous blog "My Health, My Self, My God" HERE }
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