Are you stressed by how productive and together other people seem during the pandemic? I know I am. I’m not writing a novel or cleaning our house top-to-bottom right now—I’m playing video games and watching marathons of Million Dollar Listing LA!
Although I haven’t been wildly productive, I have mostly been fine, emotionally. (I could certainly be worse!) And that’s probably how it seems when I post on Instagram, because the majority of my posts have been of the flowers and cats that I see on my occasional walks. But I had a cry-your-eyes-out anxiety attack a few weekends ago, and I obviously didn’t post pictures of that. I imagine other people are in the same boat—feeling a lot at times and not documenting that “messiness” on social media.
Inspired by that, and by Samantha Ravndahl’s IG vs Reality video, I thought now might be a good time to share the true stories behind a few of my pretty Instagram pictures. I think we could all use the reminder that nothing is as perfect as it seems on social media, especially right now. YOU’RE DOING AMAZING, SWEETIE! ♥️
This picture from my trip to Sedona last year is absolutely gorgeous. And it was taken three days after one of my best friends died, so… yeah. Also, don’t be fooled by my meditative posture—I’m actually not a huge fan of meditating. It is so so hard for me to just sit still and tune into myself. I assume I’ll get there someday, as I didn’t like yoga in the beginning either. Anyway, for this picture, I literally handed my camera off to a friend, sat down, and was like, “Ooh, hey, it looks like I actually meditate!” 😂
I love this picture, and it’s literally a selfie that I took in the kitchen before running out the door on Thanksgiving 2018. 🤷🏼♀️ In person, I was meh on my hair and haaated how clumpy my mascara looked… annnd then this pic turned out to be my favorite picture ever. Go figure.
See those pretty flowers? Yeah, they also attract bugs… and I’m terrified of bugs and legitimately flinch whenever I hear buzzing. So I was basically jumping out of my skin every five seconds while trying to capture this picture. 🙃
This is a pic from my friend Sara’s wedding. Three days before, I got super triggered by something unexpected and could barely function. I couldn’t eat or sleep, and I ended up leaving work early three days in a row because I was only capable of pacing around and crying. The (delicious) dinner at Sara’s wedding was the first meal I’d eaten in three days. In retrospect, I do look kind of sad and exhausted here, and well, that’s why.
So that’s it for my story time. I really do try to be honest in my IG captions if the pic is pretty but not reflective of reality, but sometimes, the situation is just too much for me to delve into at that moment. (…Or it’s too dumb, in the case of the bugs. 😂)
Hope you all are faring well and not judging yourself too much for however you’re coping in this unprecedented time. 💕💕