Living Life Beautifully

So many craft/home/lifestyle blog authors seem to have such perfect lives! I know there's probably a lot they leave out, but it does seem that way. In my mind they wake up in a pink vintage nightgown, make the perfect latte that they sip daintily on their porch swing while eating a made-from-scratch strawberry crepe while managing their business and taking perfect, gallery quality photos of it all! And their kids are quietly playing with wooden toys, making art instead of watching TV and generally being cute (while wearing hand knit clothing). The dog is cute, the cat is cute, the flowers are blooming, every corner of their home is lovingly, artfully decorated and there are fresh flowers on the table. Which has a vintage tablecloth and is set with beautifully mismatched china, just so.

And then there's me. I do try! I try to write about positive, uplifting things about my life on my blog because I feel like nobody really likes to read about the crappy things. But I'm wondering if that's why I don't blog as often as I'd like to - sometimes I just can't get to that place of "birds are chirping, flowers are blooming, it's a beautiful day". Like today - I'm tired. Just plain tired. I have a stack of custom orders that I need to fill, boxes to ship, I didn't get to the laundry, I didn't make dinner (didn't even eat dinner!), I have people to email that I didn't get to, items to put on Etsy (sitting right by me on the desk, actually), didn't have neosporin for Lucy's poor foot (she scraped it pretty bad). Then there are the tantrums and bad mother/daughter days, all the many worries and fears and stresses that go along with being human, the insecurities, etc. So there are bits and pieces of life that I can take a pretty picture of and feel good about but there's also the blah everyday things and the awful things. How do you feel about it? How do you choose what to blog about and what to leave out? Do you think most bloggers are honest about their lives?

Comments

[elizabeth of course]

Ha! I just blogged this same sentiment yesterday! Thank you so much for posting this!
I really do believe little birds float over the heads of some bloggrs all day by the way their stories are posted. It can make you feel crappy sometimes, huh? Just once I'd like to hear that someone had a meltdown and didn't recover for a few hours like me, haha!
I mean we all get to the: everyhting's okay, this too shall pass, I'm over it, point. But some of us take longer than others, right? I think we should start a miserable blog of just mommy rants. Stories of lunches dumped on important papers and explosive diapers in public! haha.
I hope today is better for you. Sending you good thoughts.

[our little love nest]

Honest..yes but completely open..no. I think there are very few people who are willing to be completely open and real. I think they are afraid of responses or losing friends and readers. I lose a few every time I share openly. We are all the same though, struggling to keep up and be the best for our family while feeling like failures most of the time. I feel bad because every time I go to work on the computer I have my sweet little Bella watch t.v. and then while she is napping, I rush to get the house clean and stay up way too late to work on art. I have no energy and just dream of taking a nap in a lovely vintage looking hammock in the sun, sipping minty iced tea. By the time we are perfect we are dead and in heaven...I guess if we are breathing we are gonna come up short. Hang in there...it really will come together and then you will have one of those magic weeks where everything seems to go perfect.

[Amanda]

Thank you ladies, I really appreciate it. :) It's just something I've been having a hard time with lately and it's so nice to hear that other people feel the same way as I do. Maybe it's just something that goes along with being a mom - I haven't been one for all that long! I keep thinking I'm going to get to this happy, sparkly place but maybe not!

[Debbie Macey]

I think a lot of people have the need to entertain via blogs. It's the internet and anything is possible. I'm not the shy and VERY quiet person I am in reality.. I can express anything here! That's liberating to a lot of people and it seems to become a job, blogging. In a strange way blogging about the picture perfect life could be a self-justification on their part.

I started a blog because I had a story to tell.. But that faded somehow and now a heavy dullness lingers above and around me. I don't really want to share that so I'm in hiding for now, until the world looks brighter.

Your blog is beautiful and I read it any chance I get! Your creativity stuns me and I enjoy reading and seeing it all.

[Karyn (French Charming)]

Yippee...I'm not alone! Thanks so much for the visit and the link! I think the only difference between us and those "perfect" bloggers is we just put our honest feelings out there, and aren't afraid to offend someone with how we really feel. Some choose not to and that's alright too! Thank you my dear for keeping it real!!