Aspiring to the Life we Live (or, Why we only post the good stuff)

I quite like social media. I like sharing photos on Flickr and moments on Instagram. I like sharing learning on my blogs and Twitter and family stuff on Facebook. I like the little connections (and reconnections) that come out of a comment or a “hey we’ve been there too” coincidence. My media are journals for different audiences, though mostly for myself.

But I tend to only share the good stuff.

Because when days are long, work piles up, patience frays and bodies fail, it’s reassuring to see what we’re working towards and who we’re doing it for. To me, it’s like a protective mental health strategy; being prone to worrying and anxiety, my timeline is a reflection on the positive, a force to push the stresses or concerns from valuable mindspace.

Of course, it didn’t (or did?) help when I read that we only have 940 weekends with our kids. Time and childhoods pass so quickly. Finding the balance between building a good life for our kids and enjoying it with them is tough. When I look back on these years, I don’t want to see voids of time where “Daddy was too busy to…“. So I’ll take the snaps and share the smiles.

The images of the good times will survive the fog of the slog.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BCVGZDAueb1/?taken-by=sjtylr