The pretty picture

I actually wrote this post awhile back, and then didn’t publish it. But apparently the theme I touched on yesterday of story, and telling our true stories even when they aren’t pretty, has been on mind a while…

Someone said to me the other day, “I don’t know how you do it all!” I just sort of chuckled and said, “I don’t! My house is usually a mess, we eat out too often, and somebody’s always complaining that they don’t have clean underwear.”

So often on blogs, my own included, you only see the “pretty” picture. And that’s a very natural human thing. Most people, when asked “How are you today?”, respond with “fine” or “good” or even “great”. Not too often do we admit to others that we’re tired, that there’s a colony of dust bunnies taking up residence under our sofa, that we yelled at our kid today and then regretted it. But that’s the real story, and that’s the part of the story we actually all relate to. Certainly we also relate to the happy and good stories – when we celebrate our kids’ accomplishments, or ran 5 miles, or even just managed to cook something really yummy for supper. But the less pretty parts are the parts that we maybe wish someone would hear, look understandingly into our eyes, pat our hand and say, “Me, too.”

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3 Responses to The pretty picture

  1. Shannon says:

    again, we’re on the same channel. 🙂 I am about to be over-run by clutter, our meals have been awful, and the pile of dust I swept off the steps last weekend was a true embarrassment!! Love ya!

  2. Kim DeBolt says:

    Welcome to the club known as “Real life”. I think 99.99999% of your readers have the same kind of houses, eat the same way, and have told their children “I’m sorry for getting mad”, me included. No one is perfect. So yes, go ahead and celebrate the great meal, and the fact that you did a load of laundry, but also celebrate the fact that you all ate together (whatever it was), you watched your kids play ball, and you watched the sun set together. You can always dust and vacuum, but time with our family is precious, and more important than “the pretty picture”. Love you cuz!
    Love, Cali Kim

  3. UgaAKVic says:

    Please do share the ‘normal’ and frustrating parts, we all have them. I know for me so many times it seems the day is filled with the same chores or activities but many do not view them as we do, given living in a less than common lifestyle.
    The dust bunnies in our house can get to be the size of small cows during our busy times of the year. The words can get cross too…but so then are the special things we remember from those times.

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