When all is not quite what it seems...


This summer, I've been paying more attention to the kinds of posts I, my friends and my family post on various social media sites.  Generally speaking, the posts are positive. Painting pictures of smiling, happy days out, family holidays... 

 I do the same... And have done over the past years. The memory app function on Facebook pops up every day, showing a raft of pictures and posts about things I, and my family did in the past. And they've all been positive, generally smiley posts. 

 But what hides behind those 'picture perfect' images I keep being reminded of are the untold stories... 

  • The times spent wondering what to do, because I needed to see another adult. Talking to them would be a bonus, but not essential...
  • The mad planning to get us anywhere on time. 
  • The times when I've just sat, watched, and tried not to cry because I was exhausted. 
  • The meltdown that happened 20 seconds before leaving the house because I made the wrong kind of sandwiches for the picnic.
  • That the picture I shared, with other people in it, represented 10 minutes of an otherwise lonely day.
  • That there are very few pictures of me, that I didn't take myself. 
Some days, those memories, when they pop up, make me smile and laugh. But an equal number of them make me cry.

I can't be alone in sugar coating the version of life that I share. The version people come to believe.

Maybe we need to be more honest. More supportive, less judgemental when our friends / family share their reality... And not the photoshopped version of their life. 

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