Facebook or Fakebook? How Social Media Actually Portrays Our Real Life

I bet that when you look at your profile from an outsider’s perspective you would agree that your life looks pretty magical.

Some people refer to this as Fakebook.  Apparently, a certain percentage of people have admitted making their life look more exciting on social media.

But what if social media actually portrays the real beauty of our lives?  What if it is our perception of our life that is actually false?

Imagine Niagara Falls.  As an onlooker, you gaze at the massive waterfall and are astonished by its beauty.  As you come closer you might be even more amazed.

It is so vast and glorious.

But what happens if you decide to take an even closer look?  If it is beautiful from here, imagine the beauty even closer or from the inside?

So you put on your poncho and make your way into the falls.  But what you quickly discover is that once you are so close, on the very inside of that magnificent waterfall, you can see nothing – only mist.

It is no longer enjoyable.  It is cold, and wet, and confusing.

This is precisely what happens to our own perception of our lives.  Perhaps we are in the mist.  We are so deep in the hustle, the grind, and the mundane tasks that we rarely take a few steps back to really see.

Like the waterfall, the true beauty of our lives can only be seen from a distance.

A few years ago we took a road trip through Michigan.  It was a bucket list trip.  I had always wanted to hop in the car and drive to wherever the road takes me.

A real adventure.

The kids had a four day weekend from school so we took the opportunity, packed up and left.

 

I had planned to take lots of pictures and post them on Facebook.  But I never actually posted them.  I didn’t post them because I felt that if I did, I’d portray something that wasn’t real.

You see, the trip was not all I hoped it would be.

As soon as we drove onto the highway I knew it.  The kids were extra whiny.  Mike and I were on edge.

We spent four days sort of wandering around, trying to find things to do that the kids wouldn’t declare as boring.  Lots of places were closed for the season (although we did get a hotel manager to turn on the indoor water park just for us!).

We spent many hours confined to our small car and small hotel rooms.  So I didn’t post the pictures because I didn’t think the trip was worth the declaration.

But I was wrong.

 

We made lots of memories.  We giggled.  We learned things about one another.

Driving through those small towns we gained just a little more appreciation of our comfortable life.

Through the arguing and whining, we stopped to smile – to take a picture.

We laughed and snuggled.  We enjoyed one another.  We are learning each day how to be better at being patient with one another.

 

Those pictures that we took were of real moments, milliseconds maybe, but they happened and are happening all the time.

 

They are beautiful and glorious and they do deserve to be recognized and celebrated… maybe even posted on Facebook.

xoxo Agnes