Comparison. It seriously steals the joy.

Theodore Roosevelt said, "Comparison is the thief of joy." 

And just think, he didn't have blogs, or Facebook, or Instagram to contend with! I mean, whatever you are into, you can find thousands of pictures of people who seemingly are doing life in the way you long to. For me, it's usually pictures of Waldorf or Charlotte Mason homeschoolers, or homesteads, or mamas with many children who not only dress themselves in a hip way, but ALL of their children, or mamas writing/speaking/ inspiring AND loving their families well. Of course, we know in our heads that NO one has it all together, and there is pain found in every human story...but slowly the discontent slips in, the feeling that somehow we are not enough. That, my friend, is when you need a break from social media (for me, FB and IG). It's why I am currently on a fast from both. It's not my friends who make me feel this way-- friends I lived or have lived life with, anyway. Because I know their stories and realities and have rejoiced with them and grieved with them. It's the women who I have never met or don't know their every day, whose life snapshots are inspiring and yet so distracting. Because it takes my focus off of my real life, those who are all around me, ready to be loved and to love me. 

Today, I just had this overwhelming feeling of contentment that kept washing over me. On the country roads driving home from a farm store we visited. Listening to the kids chatter in the van. Looking up at the stars as we unloaded flowers to plant tonight.  Finishing a read aloud that affected all of us deeply. Delighting in teeny little toes sticking out of the bubble bath water. I think those feelings of contentment popping up and sweeping over me more often, are a direct result of me being more present in my owl reality. There is beauty all around. I mean right this second. I'm afraid we are missing it, this generation of ours.Our necks are strained from looking down at our phones, from looking at the beauty in the lives of others instead of the beauty in our own.

I don't like to be bossy, but if your heart aches when you look at social media, would you consider joining me? Like a wise friend told me, it doesn't have to be forever. But there is so much life to be truly lived, that it might just need to be for me.

May our hearts be ever growing in gratitude, and not aching with discontent, 

Jen