Let me preface this by saying that I like Facebook. I check it a few times a day, maybe more if I’m bored. I enjoy reading the funny posts, the ridiculous quotes, the sarcastic comments and I really, really do enjoy seeing photos of my friends’ kids. I promise. But there’s one thing that irks me every single time I see it. The often used, “Life is Good” comment. For example…”Bundled up on the couch watching a movie with the kids for some beautiful family time…Life is Good!” Or…”Listening to my two adorable children play quietly together…Life is Good!” And one more…”Eating an amazing meal cooked by my gorgeous and talented husband. Yum, Life is Good!”

So let’s first state the obvious. No, you are not watching a movie with the kids. You’re on Facebook telling us about it. Not exactly “family time” as defined by the Norman Rockwell image you’re trying to portray. Listening to your two kids quietly play? Whatever. You’re probably hiding in the other room to avoid hearing the umpteenth “Mommmmmmm!” of the day. And “eating a meal prepared by perfect hubby?” Not likely. Once again, you’re on Facebook telling us about it instead of giving him your full attention he deserves if…IF… he truly did cook the meal. Or, because of your own lack of confidence, you’re trying to convince some Facebook friend from third grade that you have THE perfect life. We know you don’t. And guess what? It’s okay. Neither do we.

I really wish people on Facebook would be more honest. Instead of reading,”Spending wonderful family time with my two perfect kids,” I’d much rather read, “Locked in the bathroom with a magazine because my younger son is screaming after my older son made him smell his armpits.” Reality. My reality and surely reality for many other moms out there. Am I right?

What if we all were a little more honest on Facebook? What if the social media network became more of a universal therapy session instead of an attempt to “one-up” your old college roommate or impress the guy who dumped you in high school who probably doesn’t remember your name now? What if?

I first thought about this concept a couple of weeks ago at a low point in my always crazy life. My family and I moved to Asheville almost three months ago. We’re renovating an old house and living here while the work’s being done. We’re in a new city, with a new school, and new friends we’re trying to get to know like our old ones. Construction is on-going and I never know when I walk out of the shower wrapped in just a towel if I’ll meet the flooring guy in the hallway. Yesterday I stopped the electrician from walking in the kitchen where my son was standing in his underwear waiting for a pair of shorts. I watched as that same electrician broke a bulb over our clean laundry and picked up slivers of glass from my panties neatly folded on the table. And then I dried my hair in the kitchen as my husband spoke to a worker three feet away. I long for the day when it’s just my family in the house, when there are no strange men asking to use my bathroom, and when we are finally, FINALLY settled.

But that low point came with a weeklong tension headache, rainy skies, empty rooms and with boxes full of our stuff staring back. Trying to “up” my mood, I jumped on Facebook. Then I started reading posts – perfect post after perfect post makimg me question everything we’d done. “They all look so happy!” and “Why doesn’t my child go to bed that easily?!” And “Why isn’t my hubby cleaning the kitchen like hers?!” What’s wrong with me?!!!

It was only after turning to some photography friends at The Bloom Forum, who’ve also moved and dealt with the same stress, that I realized I’m not alone. Those “perfect post” lives are just that…perfectly plastic. They’re made up or stretched a bit to “pretty up” what would be a very normal and well, boring existence with its same share of problems and stress.

I’m not saying that some people aren’t truly happy. I do have my happy moments, a lot of them, and they outweigh the dull ones. I also consider myself a happy person. I just believe if we could all be a little more honest, it could help. It’ll help our Facebook friends, and most importantly our friends on Facebook – those we truly consider friends – to handle the low points in life a little better.

So here’s my attempt at a “reality” Facebook post… “Hanging out inside while the flooring guys grind away concrete at an ear-damaging decibel, hoping my sons don’t trip on yet another box on the floor in an empty room, watching a worker relieve himself in the corner of the backyard as he smokes, and wondering if the bearded man sitting in the corner of my den petting my dog and smiling at me is with the crew or someone who followed them in. Life is Good???”

(And a little fun bit of reality…my younger son is on the step stool in that position because three frames later he mooned me.)

The post above is part of a fine art photography blog group through The Bloom Forum. Please continue in the blog circle by clicking below to visit the talented

Carrie Hyche, Heart of the West Photography, Wheatland, WY

http://www.heartofthewestphotography.com/2013/09/ignite.html