Reality vs. Blogs

I'm not sure if I want these shoes or not . . . either way I'm pretty sure I would do some pretty serious damage with them . . . mostly to myself.



So in the spirit of my New Year's "resolution" (I know, how completely three weeks ago is it of me to bring something so outdated up?!), a little bit of philosophizing. At least, I hope these random thoughts can be considered to reach that level. Anyway.

A friend of mine posted this article on her facebook a couple of days ago. I thought it was kind of awesome. And I kind of loved it.

There were a couple of bits that really struck me as accurate. For instance - "Of course, the larger question is, are these women's lives really as sweet and simple as they appear? Blogs have always been a way to mediate and prettify your own life; you'd be a fool to compare your real self to someone else's carefully arranged surface self."

I'm pretty sure I've said almost the same thing myself once or twice. And I've definitely wondered just how "real" all the perky, perfect blogs are. Every blog I follow has the occasional depressed/frustrated/just plain grumpy post. I rather like it that way. It makes me feel better about posting my own. I mean, heaven knows that NO ONE is going to have a picture perfect life all the time - so why put on a front as though you do? What good does it do? What purpose does it serve?

This would probably be the appropriate point to make a bunch of Happy Valley = Prozac Capital of the Planet jokes, but in a way those are just as depressing as the purported pill-poppers' blogs are simultaneously intimidating and fake-feeling.

I can't help but wonder - is that the point? Intimidation, I mean. How many of these bloggers are putting up a false front just to make other people feel like they aren't measuring up? Because fake or not, you really can't deny that there is a bit of an unspoken expectation that your life is supposed to look exactly like these "ideals" that are being put out there . . . and if yours isn't, there's something wrong with you. I know it's not "official" and that if anyone ever actually said anything about it out loud everyone would deny it - but it's there. I'd be willing to bet that every woman in this state at the very least has had moments of feeling either better than everyone else or (more likely) like they're falling short of what they're supposed to be.

And how the crap did this get started anyway? When did a girl's worth begin to be determined by how many babies she could take care of at once? By how many cupcakes she could bake and decorate in a day? How many pages she scrapbooked in a week? Sure, there's probably always been rivalries and whatever (the bargaining scene from Johnny Lingo comes to mind . . . random tangent - oh, how I love that movie!) but how did it come to be so culturally pervasive? Such a standard? And why do so many people just silently accept it?

Okay, maybe things didn't get very deep or high-minded, but I've pretty much reached the end of my thoughts. In sum: I think I'm doing pretty well so far this year. Of course, we haven't even finished the first month yet. :-) We'll see what happens. Either way, I'll be keeping it real. As the cool kids say.

P. ost S. cript
As far as I'm concerned, the new movie does not exist. This one is as awesome as it gets. Mahana, you ugly! Come down from that tree! :-)