I've been really discouraged my social media lately (this might be redundant). To me it just seems like a vehicle to portray ourselves in the perfect light. To diminish hardships and exemplify our successes- both of which are blown out of proportion. I keep wondering to myself- does this online world discourage intimacy? Can we let others in to see our faults and see our lives without the filters? Will they accept us exactly as we are and love us unconditionally?
With the rainy summer, I've found myself spending more time online. I typically would only spend about 15 minutes a day viewing social media and recently I would venture to guess I've been spending an hour or so and holy smokes what a difference that makes. Instead of living in the moment and enjoying my surroundings and pushing myself to be better I'm engrossed with questioning who I am and where I am at. And I'm through with it because my life is better than that and when I look back in ten years I don't want to remember fear and questioning- I want to see myself flourishing. Connecting. Being honest. Loving others with my entire heart. Accepting. Encouraging. That's who I am and who I need to allow to surface. I don't need others to know it, just to do it and feel my soul as nourished rather than famished.
I am back in my writing and reading habits and it feels good. The universe has handed me some great material and I'm going to allow it to transform me yet again. The ole carefree and optimistic Taylor. I am going to move beyond the need for validation in life. Here is a vow that I am taking: I am willing to sound dumb, to be wrong, to be passionate about something that others don't perceive as cool, to express my opinion, a theory, to admit that I'm afraid, to contradict something I've said before, to apologize, to grow, to be less than perfect, and perfectly human.
"The whole experience makes me wonder if the time we spend trying to become somebody people will love isn't wasted because the most powerful, most attractive person we can be is who we already are, an ever-changing being that is becoming and will never arrive, but has opinions about what is seen along the journey." -Donald Miller
"If honesty is the key to intimacy, it means we don't have to be perfect, and, moreover, we don't have to pretend to be perfect." -Donald Miller