On social media, we tend to post only our prettiest, wittiest, funniest, most professional versions of ourselves. Facebook, it seems, is not always the place for our rougher edges, our sorrows, our imperfect moments.
A few months ago, I lost my brother. I shared my grief on Facebook and received tremendous support. It was astounding. But after a while, I felt as though I didn't want to bog down my friends' Facebook feeds with my sadness, so I went back to my usual posts--cute pictures of my kids, funny things that happened to me, organizations I believe in. I didn't want to weigh Facebook down with, well...real life.
This experience has made me think that these highly edited selves we present on social media are not only untrue but can be harmful. What message am I sending to my own children if I'm only willing to present their happiest, most well groomed, matchy-outfit images? Or if I'm only willing to show that highly edited side of myself? How can I possibly tell anyone that mistakes are okay, suffering is sacred, messiness is life, if I never allow anyone to see that side of me? So, rather than giving up social media for Lent, what if we made a daily discipline of posting about our messiness, our imperfections, our ugly moments with the hashtag, #lentunedited. Let's make this season of Lent about sharing our real selves with one another--unedited, unfiltered, imperfect, and let the grace of community and the grace of God shine into our darkness and our joy.
- The Rev. Hopie Welles Jernagan, Episcopal Priest, mother of 2, recovering perfectionist
No comments:
Post a Comment