A few weeks ago I saw this status from a friend on Facebook:
“So if you are constantly on FB bragging about your life and talking about how wonderful everything is you are either on drugs, living in an alternate reality, or you’re trying to convince yourself, CUZ I AINT BUYING IT!”
My initial reaction was “woah someone is having a bad day.” But then I thought about it, and she has a point. No one’s life is perfect every moment of every day. But on the other hand, I can’t really handle those Eeyore personality folks who opt to use every social channel they have to complain about their job, husband, sister’s dog, etc etc.
I wonder where the balance is?
In a day and age where so much of our lives are online for all the world to see, when do you decide to share what’s going on?
A few days ago Elisa (Ophelia’s Webb) wrote a great post called Nothing That’s Worthwhile is Ever Easy. Her post is heartfelt, genuine, but most certainly would not fall into the Sunshine and Roses category. Here’s an excerpt from her post (I highly recommend you read the whole thing):
But feeling sorry for myself and wading in the suffering does nothing in the end. There are starving children in Africa, right? What right do I have to cry uncontrollably for ten minutes over a chunk of hair from my already layered cut? … I know that the title of this post is the truth. That the life we want does not often come easily. I don’t want it to come easily. I really wish it wasn’t so damned hard either. I don’t want it all. I just want my sparkle back.
I think it was so important for her to share this post, for two reasons.
- sometimes just expressing your emotions (even to one person) lessens the load so that you’re not the only one carrying the burden
- as a writer, opening yourself up and being vulnerable gives others the permission to be completely real… with themselves, with you as the author, or perhaps with their own audience.
As a blogger, it’s always hard to decide what to share. I love it when bloggers open up; it lets me see they are real people. For me, I always think, okay if the Washington Post ran this blog post as the top story, above the fold, would I be okay with that? If The Today Show’s first story of the day was something I wrote on my blog, would I be okay with that? If not, then something about the post doesn’t sit well with me. If yes (besides the fact that if Matt Lauer was talking about me, I would be red faced!), then I roll with it. I’m most definitely not perfect, and, to me, a perfect life is boring. I don’t want to read about your perfect life – I want to read about something that resonates with me. So I try my best to strive for that when I blog.