Glimpse of Perfection

Today is International Women’s Day. Can you believe we have an entire day that the whole world has devoted to celebrating women? Stop and think about that for a minute. In the United States, it was barely 100 years ago that women were finally respected enough to be allowed to vote. Following that came the ability to go to college, be the sole owner of property and be the only name on a bank account or credit card. 

These changes did not happen THAT LONG AGO but for many, they are still just events of the past, not anything we truly experienced. No today, we experience a whole new variety of self-worth deterioration. Social Media. 

The ability to compare your life to someone else's right now is as easy as picking up your phone. Videos, photos, podcasts, blogs, books, magazines, etc are all readily available with a few taps on your device. That means we have constant exposure to people’s opinions, stories, and lives. Albeit very short looks into their lives. So short, we shouldn’t even be judging them based on what we see. Or judging ourselves in comparison. 

Think about it this way… have you ever had company unexpectedly drop by on the day you’ve chosen to stay in your pajamas, ignore the dishes, and the kids run wild? This is not your norm. This is not the way your life usually looks. But today it is… and today is the day your mother-in-law drops in and gives you that “look.” The one where you know she thinks this is just how life is in your home. You instantly want to make excuses for the situation, “it’s not normally like this, we’re just having a lazy day” and you beg her not to judge you. 

So then why are you so quick to judge everyone else for the little 2-minute glimpses you get into their lives? Even if that glimpse is “perfection” you and I both know that perfection isn’t reality. In the world of social media and built-in camera filters perfect is almost always “fake” anyway. We see these women with perfect skin, big eyes, etc and even if it’s not conscious, begin to question our own appearance because we don’t look like that. Here’s a secret. They don’t either. You see their perfectly clean house and question your ability to keep up. What you don’t see are the dirty dishes hiding in the oven, or the laundry piled up in the closet. Or maybe you can’t see those things because the background has been artistically blurred. 

While I would love to see a world where women didn’t feel the need to hide the truths of life or hide their natural selves, we are a long way from that becoming our reality. So in the meantime, I challenge you to begin to recognize truth and creation. Reality and art. Big picture and short glimpse. Then give yourself some grace. If you find that consuming media causes you to feel less than, in any way, consider a “detox.” Unplug, read a book, go for a walk, do something besides that mindless scrolling. Or alternatively, unfollow the accounts that aren’t serving your highest good. If the content you consume doesn’t help you feel more like Purely You, then it is not worth consuming. Life is too short to feel less than your best. 

I’d love to help lift your spirits and release any attachments to perfection you may have. Hop on my calendar HERE.