The Highlight Reel

That's not wallpaper--that's 8 hours of my life (spent masking and painting) I will never get back.
I’m starting to understand how this whole Internet personality thing works. 
In short, it’s a highlight reel. 
Are we really only putting the best of ourselves out there for the world to see?  For the most part, no one shows the crap they’re not proud of... or do they?
I can’t take credit for initializing this discussion. It came from my brilliant, stylish sister-in-law, the Because of Jackie blogger, Meagan. We were examining another fashion blogger, let’s call her Blogger X, and trying to discover the secrets of Blogger X’s success. This person’s writing was deplorable yet her photos were spot on, their styling was enviable and Blogger X made it all appear effortless.
Hell, their child was styled better than I have ever appeared in public!
Yet, Blogger X had an admirable amount of devoted followers despite the fact that they used “ha ha ha” as sentence ending punctuation. Not only that, Blogger X clearly had a wardrobe donated for the explicit purpose of getting the attention of followers such as Meagan and me. We were green with envy and flummoxed.
Then Meagan said the words that have stayed with me and have forever changed my thinking, 
“People only blog the highlight reel of their lives.”
It’s so true. I give you, Exhibit A: The day before Easter:
Is it real life? Or a highlight reel? Damn you, Pinterest. Looks effortless, doesn’t it? Looks quick and easy, no?
The photo does not show the fact that it took me four hours to do this. It does not show the ramifications for this stupid compulsion such as: not having dinner ready until almost 7:30, forgetting to bring my own dinner and breakfast contributions to Easter the following day (or my daughter’s Easter basket for the egg hunt), scrambling to make the Easter Bunny happen, being too exhausted to even relax Easter Eve. No, the photo leaves that frazzled storyline to the wayside. Instead, you see what I want you to see: perfection, creativity, and ingenuity.

That’s not healthy.

We as women, drive ourselves insane and for what? Praise, glory, internet fame? What is the point?

From now on I am tempering every inane idea I find on Pinterest with the Highlight Reel Injunction.

I must ask myself, “Is this endeavor worth losing all sense of time and responsibility for very little return? Do I really want to see the look of manic, creativity-gone-wrong reflected in my husband’s disappointed gaze? Is it worth it?"

No. It’s not.

Beyond the obvious maternal gig (I do adore being a mother!), I enjoy writing and I enjoy painting. Those are the two things in this world that I feel competent in. They are my happy places. I need to keep things in check and stay where I belong.

Life should not be a competition.

Yet, as young girls, our DNA dictates that we should climb over one another to reach some unachievable pinnacle.

Did the cave women try to outdo one another to see who could make the best saber-tooth: stew, jewelry, and or fashionable fur cloak?

God, I hope not.

Remember the Highlight Reel Injunction, dear reader—you’re only seeing the best, so don’t sweat it.

You’re awesome just the way you are.