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Twin Cities Mom Collective

Back Off My Happy Instagram Feed

Have you seen the 14 latest articles about how you’re supposed to “be real” on social media, that it’s all fake, and people are pretending all is perfect on Instagram? Maybe the last one you read said that we should all be authentic and put our “hard out there” and stop posting so much happy.

I have a pretty happy Instagram feed, and I like it that way. I like seeing the pretty pop up in my time hop a year later (because who doesn’t love Time Hop?!), I like focusing on the good and the beautiful and, being an eternal optimist, I prefer to look for the good in every situation.

I consider myself a very honest person. So much so, that often, I have to be conscious about over-sharing because sometimes, my situation is just that: mine. Or it’s mine and my family’s and not really your business at all. Or maybe I haven’t fully processed it and though I may share all about it in the future, now is not the time. So, while I do absolutely advocate for putting it all out there and sharing the hard, the painful and the struggles, I also think there is a time and place for it. I think that if you’re going to share your hard and your struggles, you need to know yourself and your situation well enough to know if you can handle the potential comments (oh, you know the comments are coming!), and if you’re at a place of being ready to share.

Wanna see my happy? I’m 34 and I’m pretty sure I still don’t know how to dress myself, which is why I’m a total outfit repeater…it makes me tired to think about trying to look put together allthetime, which is why I recently converted to living in all activewear, but that’s another story. So, if there is a day I look put together, heck yes I am going to document and celebrate that!

Back Off My Happy Instagram Feed | Twin Cities Moms Blog

I took this picture in the hospital bathroom after my second stillborn baby loss, where I nearly bled out. Criticize me if you want for being less than authentic, but I ended up writing about the painful and the struggles, I just did it in my own time, when I was ready to face the heavy. On this particular day, I needed to search for the light, however small it may have been.

Back Off My Happy Instagram Feed | Twin Cities Moms Blog

I posted this after a particularly rough couple of days. Do I want to tell you what I’m going through? Nope. Do I find it helpful, therapeutic even, to poke a little fun at myself during my hard days, so that instead of soaking in the pain I feel, I remember that it’s okay to smile in the midst of it all? Yes. It’s not only okay to smile, it just might be what gets you through that day.

Back Off My Happy Instagram Feed | Twin Cities Moms Blog

Finally, I put this one up this recently. I’m walking through some sludge in life right now, and no, I don’t really want to tell you, or the whole social media world, all about it. For me, Instagram is a fun place where I post things in a therapeutic sort of way. I might vent about the hard some days, but on the very hardest days, I need to put light out there for myself.

Back Off My Happy Instagram Feed | Twin Cities Moms Blog

Maybe this isn’t for you. Maybe you prefer that we only post the real, the hard and the dirty so it’s all uber-authentic. More power to you, but maybe then you don’t want to follow my feed. And for those of you do that prefer that, all I ask is that we don’t get down on people for being happy.

Consider this…some people are private, and while you or I might feel comfortable sharing all of the struggles, there are people who’d just rather not. Can we stop writing articles telling them to go out of their comfort zone, or be someone they aren’t just because the world has decided to call it “in-authentic” not to? Because, truly, if they don’t feel comfortable putting it “all out there,” they’re actually being very authentic and true to who they are.

For the love, there’s plenty of bad in the world, so instead of criticizing people for putting more beauty in the world…let’s just thank them for it.


You can also follow Twin Cities Moms Blog on Instagram! Fair warning: at least 70% of our posts revolve around coffee. See example 😉

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2 comments

Natalie March 22, 2016 at 9:25 AM

100% Yes. Bring on all the glimmers of hope and joy, because we need it sometimes.

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Danielle July 17, 2016 at 10:02 AM

Oh man girl! You hit the nail on the head. I try really hard to be authentic while staying true to my mission statement and brand. Sometimes I realize people don’t want to see the poop in the bathroom sink my son left me yesterday. I ran into someone you went to college with named Kristy at Sparkhouse Friday. We’re eventually going to meet one of the’s days.

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