Everyday, week, moment I think about social media and how it has consumed my world and the world of most people. It’s become a constant battle for me to separate social from reality. I’ve also struggled with letting people know vulnerable, personal things about me and my life. Sometimes I don’t even want to post or write because I’m afraid of what others will think of me. It has to be “aesthetically pleasing to the eye”, a “highlight reel” or you’ll lose followers and not get enough “likes.”

I think of the people who decided not to show pictures of their children like Kristin Cavallari. Someone who is famous but has chosen for their children to be kept out of the spotlight. She’s doing this so that she doesn’t feel like she’s making that decision for them when they’re to small to make it for themselves. Then I think, for me personally that is what my brand is all about. My family and what I do on a day to day basis. I’m not against it but I’m not fully for it either. Like I said, I feel like I am constantly fighting an internal battle on what is right/wrong to share on social.

This is my generation, and it’s scary! I feel like it causes more and more people to become depressed and self conscious of themselves, filled with negative thoughts. Of course, what I post and other influencers post aren’t meant to make people feel this way, but at the same time this generation did not only create social media but the competition within it. It has become so overly saturated and we feel (influencer or not) that we HAVE to post. We have to let everyone know what ourselves and our families are up to. Make sure we let everyone know that we are doing alright or better than just alright, even if that means lying.

Another thing social media does is destroy and diminish relationships with your friends and especially your significant others. If your man likes another girls picture on Instagram it could turn into a whole thing and vise versa. A thing that didn’t even need to happen in the first place! My husband comes home from work and I’m on my phone because I finally got the kids to bed and want some alone time to myself and also want to network and engage, connect with my followers, and write. It becomes this whole thing that if either of us are on our phones, we resent one another for letting our devices take over.

Somedays all I want to do is post a picture without a long caption but I know that won’t engage my audience. I want to make this very clear before I continue on. I enjoy writing, I do it for fun (kind of like a hobby), but I also would love for it to take off and become something more. Do something that I enjoy and make it a job. That is something the power of social media has done for us.

We have the control to share as much and as little as we want with our followers, however small or large that may be. I’m working on writing more, posting more, and just being more active with all the different aspects that goes into blogging. I kid you not when I say I have at least 8 blog posts halfway written because of how many times I get interrupted by my babies and the everyday life of being a stay-at-home mom.

My thing is that I’m blogging to bring awareness to the struggles of being a mom. Whether young or not, a stay-at-home mom, working mom, part-time mom, mom of two, or mom of five (you get the point)…I want you to know I am relatable and that you are not alone in this mom game. This is what keeps me going with it all. No matter how dark some days may get for me, I know another mom out there is sharing the same hard days if not harder.

Sincerely,

YYM