"My life looks better on the Internet than it does in real life. Everyone’s life looks better on the internet than it does in real life. The Internet is partial truths—we get to decide what people see and what they don’t. That’s why it’s safer short term. And that’s why it’s much, much more dangerous long term.
Because community—the rich kind, the transforming kind, the valuable and difficult kind—doesn’t happen in partial truths and well-edited photo collections on Instagram. Community happens when we hear each other’s actual voices, when we enter one another’s actual homes, with actual messes, around actual tables telling stories that ramble on beyond 140 pithy characters."
Oh, heavens. I love/hate this. I love, love, love it because it reminds us where true community is found, and it isn't in the light of the computer screen you're looking at right now. I am guilty. Guilty of spending too much time looking at people's "partial-truth" internet lives while there is a whole world of living, breathing human beings out there hungry for companionship - myself included. Heck, I just have to look up and there are three little people sitting right across the table from me who call me mommy. So, I'd better be darn sure that they know beyond a shadow of a doubt that THEY are what's important - THEY are my priority. Not this hunk of metal that "connects" me to the outside world.
And I hate this quote because I think it is so very true of many of us. Our "internet lives" look better than our real lives. Ouch. It made me go back to my Instagram account, my Facebook page, and this blog and ask myself what image of my life I'm putting out there to the world. We fear putting our "real" lives out there because what in the world would people think?! It gets back to my last post on wanting a community of people who are willing to just be who they are regardless of what people think. But more importantly, actually BEING a community of people who are safe for people to show up in with all their beauty and all their junk and just be loved.
We are really, really good at the beauty part. The harder, imperfect stuff?? Not so much. Here's the deal. Life is really beautiful. Beauty deserves and demands to be shared because of the sheer joy and pleasure it brings us as human beings. I won't ever stop posting beautiful pictures and happy moments, because that is a part of my life and it's real. Beauty happens, people!
So does imperfect. And hard. And unexpected. And just as much as the beautiful deserves and demands to be shared, so do the not so beautiful things. Because they also are real life. The truth is, that when I see people get real and share their not so beautiful stuff, it makes me breathe a little easier and know I'm not alone. So, in an effort to be honest and authentic in representing the REAL life of Amy Savage, I give you my beautiful and imperfect - because together, they are the real truth.
Because sometimes...
Your kids get all bloodied and bruised.
And sometimes...
They shine. (Or whatever it is that Mr. T does).
Sometimes...
You surprise your husband with a custom made gift on Valentine's Day.
And sometimes...
You really do get the cutest dog on the face of the planet.
And sometimes...
On one of the hardest days of your life, you post an insanely beautiful photo of your drive down the road so no one will ever know how much pain you are in.
And sometimes...
You dye an Easter egg that miraculously matches your dress.
And sometimes...
You stumble across an incredibly awkward 4th grade photo in which you could have hatched the egg your daughter so beautifully dyed.
Sometimes...
You can get so excited over a finished project that you forget...
It's the mess and process of renovating that meant the most.
Sometimes...
Life is heart-wrenching and confusing.
But sometimes...
It's just THAT good.
So, here's to being honest about all the broken and the beautiful. Life certainly isn't perfect, but its imperfections are gifts too. Let's not be afraid to show them.
Because community—the rich kind, the transforming kind, the valuable and difficult kind—doesn’t happen in partial truths and well-edited photo collections on Instagram. Community happens when we hear each other’s actual voices, when we enter one another’s actual homes, with actual messes, around actual tables telling stories that ramble on beyond 140 pithy characters."
Oh, heavens. I love/hate this. I love, love, love it because it reminds us where true community is found, and it isn't in the light of the computer screen you're looking at right now. I am guilty. Guilty of spending too much time looking at people's "partial-truth" internet lives while there is a whole world of living, breathing human beings out there hungry for companionship - myself included. Heck, I just have to look up and there are three little people sitting right across the table from me who call me mommy. So, I'd better be darn sure that they know beyond a shadow of a doubt that THEY are what's important - THEY are my priority. Not this hunk of metal that "connects" me to the outside world.
And I hate this quote because I think it is so very true of many of us. Our "internet lives" look better than our real lives. Ouch. It made me go back to my Instagram account, my Facebook page, and this blog and ask myself what image of my life I'm putting out there to the world. We fear putting our "real" lives out there because what in the world would people think?! It gets back to my last post on wanting a community of people who are willing to just be who they are regardless of what people think. But more importantly, actually BEING a community of people who are safe for people to show up in with all their beauty and all their junk and just be loved.
We are really, really good at the beauty part. The harder, imperfect stuff?? Not so much. Here's the deal. Life is really beautiful. Beauty deserves and demands to be shared because of the sheer joy and pleasure it brings us as human beings. I won't ever stop posting beautiful pictures and happy moments, because that is a part of my life and it's real. Beauty happens, people!
So does imperfect. And hard. And unexpected. And just as much as the beautiful deserves and demands to be shared, so do the not so beautiful things. Because they also are real life. The truth is, that when I see people get real and share their not so beautiful stuff, it makes me breathe a little easier and know I'm not alone. So, in an effort to be honest and authentic in representing the REAL life of Amy Savage, I give you my beautiful and imperfect - because together, they are the real truth.
Because sometimes...
The Easter cake really does look this beautiful.
And sometimes...
You drop your daughter's birthday cake outside on the deck, then proceed to pick up the two biggest pieces you can find and shove cute candles in it in hopes she won't notice. Right.
Sometimes...
And sometimes...
They shine. (Or whatever it is that Mr. T does).
Sometimes...
You surprise your husband with a custom made gift on Valentine's Day.
And sometimes...
Three weeks later it is lost in piles of laundry and unpacked bags from a trip you returned from forever ago.
Sometimes...
And sometimes...
Your super cute dog manages to blow poop outside of his crate in the middle of the night.
Sometimes...
On one of the hardest days of your life, you post an insanely beautiful photo of your drive down the road so no one will ever know how much pain you are in.
And sometimes...
Your girls really do love each other that much and their hair really is that red in the sunset.
Sometimes...
You finally take that trip to Hawaii and you are forced to view the beach from your car with the window wipers on because it's pouring down rain and the waves are so big they could wash you away.
And sometimes...
The rain disappears and you are able to take in the most amazing sunset while surfers head into the water to catch one more wave.
Sometimes...
And sometimes...
Sometimes...
You can get so excited over a finished project that you forget...
It's the mess and process of renovating that meant the most.
Sometimes...
Life is heart-wrenching and confusing.
But sometimes...
It's just THAT good.
So, here's to being honest about all the broken and the beautiful. Life certainly isn't perfect, but its imperfections are gifts too. Let's not be afraid to show them.
