The Difference Between Your Life On Social Media And Your Reality

So often are we caught comparing our lives in their chaotic entirety to the sliver of beauty shown by other people via social media.
We’re so disconnected from real life, constantly chasing some made up perfection because that’s all we see when we’re browsing the internet. We hide our mess, and we show our best. Everyone wants people to think they’re happy, things are going well, and that life is good all the time. I can’t say I blame anyone- no one likes to show off the ugly side of life. But that’s just not the truth. That’s not real. And how deceiving is it to try and convince people that it is? With social media having such a huge role in connecting us to so many people, it’s understandable that many may not want to share everything. But at the same time, it’s hard to put your own life together and figure out who you are and what’s right, and what’s wrong, all while being stuck with thoughts like “why can’t I be like that?” – when you have so many different influences at your finger tips shouting perfection at you from so many different outlets. It makes you feel so inadequate!

It’s just one of those things, one of those “cons”, to the whole social media movement that we all just need to be aware of. Every human being has bad days. If their social media implies otherwise, they’re lying.

For example, I posted a photo once that sort of implied that I had a productivity morning. I got up, made my tea, I got (sort of) dressed, I even took a picture. But, that’s hardly what happened. I got up late because I didn’t have to go into work until that afternoon. I put a little makeup on and I brushed my hair, but I didn’t even change out of my pajama pants. I hadn’t walked through half my house. I only left bed to make tea, get yogurt, brush my hair, and put a different shirt on. I was not having a productive morning!  And the crop job I did on that photo? (1) to hide my legs because I was self-conscious about them, and (2) to hide the horror of a mess on our night stand. That’s not very exciting stuff and it makes me look bad. So we just omit those parts, leaving things to look much better than they really are.

Will I continue to do this? Probably. Because I like my life to be aesthetically pleasing across my blog and social medias. But I’m not afraid to tell you what it really is. I’m not ashamed of what my life really is. I don’t want to show off my mess, obviously, but I’m not reluctant to tell people that I don’t have it all together. I probably never will, and I embrace that about myself.

What people show online is not everything. Just because someone shows off all their yummy and healthy meals via Instagram and Snapchat doesn’t mean she didn’t eat ice cream on two separate occasions that day because she was grumpy! (ahem. That totally wasn’t ever me….) The girl who runs a super cute fashion blog does not dress that way all the time! She DOES own sweatpants! But for a fashion blog, I mean, obviously you’d never see her in them unless you knew her personally.

Real life is real life for everyone, across the board. We all have our own struggles, we all have a sink full of dishes, we all go two or three days without changing out of our comfy pants- it’s fine. If someone chooses to only show off the highlights of their life, that’s their prerogative. Just know that it isn’t the whole story.

And then learn to be secure, proud, and most importantly, happy with your own story, what you have, and what you do.