social media

So... this is likely an indication of the day I had yesterday... 

I switched yesterday & today's topics for blogtember in my head. 

Oops!

Oh well. Moving on. Today (actually yesterday) I was supposed to write about how blogging & social media has changed me.  Instead I posted my self-portrait. Either I was out of my mind because the children were driving me crazy (true) or I was wishing it was Friday instead of Thursday (also true).

  

Whatever the case, I have two specific instances where social media has shaped me.

One is that it has connected me.  Facebook has kept me connected with loved ones whom I now live thousands of miles away from, and blogging has connected me with new friends & followers who have joined me on this crazy rural Alaska journey.

The second is that it has inspired me.  Blogging (especially when I do it everyday) inspires me to keep improving, changing and seeing things with new eyes.  Writing about my passions (my family, reading & self improvement) keeps them alive for me.  Posts about the boys, good books and my goals keep things feeling fresh.  I love that.

Sometimes I am tempted to throw in the towel.  I look at other blogs that are bigger and better and think, "I'll never get there.  Why am I even trying?"  Or I'll see someone's Facebook status update and think, "I'm not that beautiful, my life isn't that awesome... How can I possibly compete?"  But the truth is I am exactly where I'm meant to be, and (plain & simple) I enjoy blogging & staying caught up with loved ones on Facebook.  So I keep on keeping on, reminding myself that what I see are only snippets.  Those awesome bloggers I follow have two years olds who tantrum, too.  The beautiful girls I envy have flaws they strive to hide, too.  The adventurous world travelers I know don't climb into bed at night next to the man they love with their three beautiful sons asleep down the hall.  

I guess the lesson in social media is that I don't have it all... 

but neither does anybody else.  

And that's okay.