The Truth About My Square Life

I love instagram as much as the next person, really I do. But, you guys, I need to confess something to you: my instagram is full of half-truths and best-foot-forwardness. It's the highlight reel of my life. I know, you're shocked. Because your instagram always shows the full truth of your life, right?

No, of course not. It would feel silly, or mellow dramatic, or mundane, to post pictures of the boring, less fun parts of our lives: doing the dishes, scrubbing the toilet, the two boxes of tissues I've used up trying to get over this sinus infection. But it doesn't mean those parts of our lives don't exist.

And even though I know this. I know that my instagram is a highlight reel of my life, I find myself comparing the square versions of other peoples' lives against my real life. I find myself acting like other peoples' highlight reels are their whole stories.  And I'm left feeling like I just don't quite measure up.  Like my life is a little more messy than everyone else's, that I just need to suck it up and get my life together. And it's exhausting. Comparison is exhausting. And it truly is the thief of my joy. Is comparison stealing your joy too?

So let's stop that. Let's stop pretending that the highlight reel of instagram is the real thing. In this series, The Truth About My Square Life, I'm going to pull old instagram posts, and confess to you two things:

1. What it looks like the picture is communicating
2. What was actually going on. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

The week that I adopted Luna, I posted this photo:

With the caption,  "My sweet girl resting after an eventful day. #LunaTheGreyhound accidentally locked me out of the apartment."

What it looks like is going on: We're a sweet little family, in my cute little apartment. Also, I care about dogs more than you, because I rescued this greyhound from her sad racer life. Sometimes we get into silly situations like today, when she accidentally locked me out, but don't worry,  I got right back in! I have my life together, so much so that I can care for another living thing.

The truth behind this picture: I popped home real quick to check on Luna, it was the first day I was leaving her home alone, only to find I couldn't get into my apartment. There is a second deadbolt inside my apartment, that can only be locked from the inside, which Luna had jumped up and managed to lock. Maintenance had to come break into my apartment, which took over an hour. When I finally got in, I found that Luna had gone to the bathroom everywhere. Both ways. She had also broken my blinds. I ended up taking the day off from work, crying on the phone with my vet for 45 minutes, being so sure that I would never be able to leave the apartment again, and seriously thinking I had made the biggest mistake of my life thinking I could take care of a dog. I even called my mom to talk with her about maybe needing to give Luna back so she could find a home where someone could take better care of her than me.

Instagram is not bad, it's probably my favorite social media platform. But comparison is stealing our joy, and that's not okay. Don't be so hard on yourself, your real life is never meant to measure up to someone else's square life.