You guys — I really love these discussions of ours. Thanks for chiming in yesterday on your struggles with Insta-envy! It was oddly reassuring to me to hear that we’re pretty much all dealing with the same thing. And, of course, to hear all of your good advice and reassurances. It’s so important to remember, both with social media and with blogging, that what we all put out there for the public is just a tiny snippet of our lives… and however messed up they might really be (or however messed up we just think they are… we’re always a whole lot more critical of ourselves than others might be, right?) they probably look pretty perfect to someone else. You never truly know what’s on the inside until you get to know someone for real.
That said, I hope to make a point to be honest here on this little blog (and I hope that I have in the past). Please feel free to call me out if you’re ever feeling annoyed — because like most of us, when I look at myself I usually see the imperfections first… and obviously try to cover them up (ha). But if things ever start to err on the side of “I’ll kill you if you say one more thing about your damn tomatoes” — or something, I don’t know, let me know. I’m happy to throw in a few notes of reality… how tough it is to juggle all of the jobs I work, how much I worry, how much I’m sure Mark worries about me. Nothing is perfect, but in the end we’re all working to create a life that is as close to our own version of perfect as it gets (whatever that might be). We’re all trying hard to do the the right thing, and live the right life for us, and that’s all we can do.
I was driving home yesterday, thinking about all of the things I “need” to do, worrying about not getting enough done, worrying about falling behind… worrying about the wide gulf that still exists between where I am, and where I’d like to be, and suddenly some part of me said, “You’re working as hard as you can possibly work… how stupid can you be to beat yourself up over the things you’re not doing? You should be congratulating yourself for all of the things that you are doing.”
And that’s the sum of my life, right there. I’m rarely happy when I’m not working on something… I like to be busy. Blame my parents for involving me in so many extracurricular activities as a kid. But no matter how busy I am, I always worry that I could be doing more. And that’s a terrible fault, because so often, it robs me of the satisfaction and happiness I might get from enjoying my accomplishments.
So today and for the future, I’m going to try hard to make it a point to resist the urge to pick and occasionally give myself a little pat on the back… and I’d love it if you would too. Because ladies, I’ve seen some of your Instagram accounts… and they’re pretty freaking fantastic.
Just sayin’.
Love you all, have an amazing weekend.
Eye this simple, perfect home.
Buy anything and everything (and especially this apron) from Food52’s new Provisions.
Make this adorable diy pet food station.
Bake these cardamom caramel ice cream sandwiches.
I think I need a puppy room.
This is a few weeks old, but somehow I managed to miss it… and dear god, please someone get me a croissant loaf right now.
On putting a dollar value on your content.
On ridiculously worded dress codes.
On hipsters’ impact on the economy (apparently razor sales are down… ha).
Say it in llama.
Lessons in motherhood.
The happiest states in America.
