There is a phenomenon happening to women of all ages in our society today. It is the Social-Media-Bionic-Woman-Syndrome. Because social media is so available, it allows us to be involved in many peoples’ lives at one time on many different levels. These may be people you are friends with, people you once knew, or people you have never met. It doesn’t matter. Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest give you instant access into the lives of those around you. The truth is, it is a great tool for communication, keeping up with old friends, or building a business. But deep down in it’s greatness is a false picture being painted of women, motherhood, and creativity. I refer to her as the “Bionic Media Socialite”
I too am a victim of this woman and often parade myself around as a perfect Pinterest goddess. I love to share all the great things going on in my life on Facebook–how great my husband is, what an amazing business I have, and how funny and wild my children are. I love to talk about things that inspire me–my awesome church and the amazing group of friends I have. I love to pin my favorite crafts, snacks, gourmet pancakes, and decorating ideas all over my Pinterest boards and see how many people “re-pin” it.
Some time over the last 6 months, when I decided I want more control of my health, my body, and my life, I started working out. I stayed disciplined and focused and worked hard to look the way I thought was ideal. I set a goal to lose 20 pounds, and I knew that was all I needed to do to love my body. It is strange how 20 pounds later, I am still not satisfied with the way I look. I started to think about why we women have such large self-esteem issues and I realized that the majority of it comes from comparing. How damaging it is when we compare our bodies, cooking skills, parenting skills, wife skills, personalities, strengths and weaknesses to each other? Not one of us are made the same, yet all of us look at one another and see things they have that we want.
I quickly realized how this social media phenomenon has greatly impacted that. When someone pins their latest amazing crafty DIY project on Pinterest, they don’t pin the 500 times it took to make it. They don’t pin burnt cake after burnt cake. They don’t choose to share just how many times it took to make that frame just right. No, they show you the finished project and each pretty little “easy” step it takes to get there. The truth is, in order to find that great success, there has to be trial and error. When we are posting the perfect picture of our family or our amazing schedule of happiness and community, we don’t post the fight we had to get the kids out the door, the frustration of waking up late, and how many times you had to threaten your kids in the store to settle down. We don’t share pictures of the housed trashed, the pile of laundry that is clean and folded tossed in a room, or what your desk space looks like. We don’t show all the flaws in our life; we only share the great things. So in everyone else’s opinion they can never live up to our standard, but what they don’t know is that our standard is a false standard. We are all human with lives of imperfectness.
I write this all to say I have contributed to this “Bionic Woman”. I often hear from others what a phenomenal life I have, and I can’t argue. But what people don’t see are the things I don’t share. Things like I have terrible anxiety and some times have to take medication for it. Though my husband is amazing, we don’t always get along, and yes we do fight! I have two beautiful girls who I get the privilege to stay home with, but there are times where I want to pull out my hair. I HATE to cook, and I am terrible at it. I am impatient, quick to speak, and I have a very hot temper. All these things are common among people, but we don’t see them in our perfect world hiding behind a computer.
I would love to challenge you today to flower a friend who needs to know that she doesn’t have to be perfect to be of value. She can be who she is and be great doing it! Happy flowering!