Alright guys, this is going to be a long ramble, so bear with me...
The other day I was speed walking through the mall, trying to run my errands as quickly as possible, and something stopped me. A giant butt picture. Not only was this butt wearing a thong and 8 feet tall, but it had some 2 foot tall, shallow but noticeable, stretch marks. Whaaaattt???
This was in the window of Aerie, American Eagle's lingerie store, and is a part of their new campaign to ditch airbrushing and show real pictures. How refreshing, right? All of their pictures in the store and on their website aren't retouched and show models with a variety of shapes and sizes. I don't know about you, but seeing a giant picture of a real butt, and not an airbrushed, unattainable butt...makes me want to support them and buy their product.
 |
A different photo on Aerie.com |
Anyways... what I'm trying to say is: Real is refreshing!
I (along with a TON of other blog readers) read Elle Noel's post a few days ago about "Transformation Tuesday." If you missed it, catch yourself up
here. I couldn't agree with her more, and this inspired me to write today's post.
Let's get real people and ditch the facade. I mean, really. This whole, "here is my perfect life" thing on social media is getting old. Staging your pictures, airbrushing your selfies, editing the picture you took of your dog. Why are we all trying to be so perfect?
I understand that if you're going to share your life on social media, you would prefer it be the better moments. But, when you're taking a picture of a new brand of juice that you just discovered, and you want to share its awesomeness, but you pour it out into a mason jar, add a beautiful special ordered paper straw, arrange a vase of fresh flowers, put it on your perfectly organized countertop with the sunlight shining in, and throw in your Mercedes key fob for good measure....
....I'm giving you a giant eye roll. That is not your real life, and IF that is your real life, you have too much time on your hands.
I guess the same thing goes for all of the gym stuff. I think there's a fine line between being inspiring and being obnoxious. While I'm just laying it all out there, I'm going to be honest. Sometimes I feel like posting every single workout with a picture included is bragging by saying, "Hey, look at me... look at these abs...don't I look good? I have so much determination. I'm pretty awesome." Am I alone in this? Shouldn't your progress speak for itself? Does saying this make me a #hater?
I know what you're thinking, if you don't like it, don't read it.
Agreed, 100%.
But, I don't want to "unfriend" or stop following someone who I legitimately like because they're annoying. I feel like I have to give them another chance. Maybe they just need some more confidence, and this is their way of asking for encouragement?
I do enjoy reading about people's progress. The first person that comes to mind is Brandi from Mama Laughlin. I came across her blog on Pinterest about a year ago, and seeing her post pictures of her Garmin times and mileage so honestly was really inspiring. She posted the good and the bad, and it was very approachable and real.
Again, I know that this is a rambling, get it off my chest, post. I guess the whole point is to just say, lets start being a little more real. Maybe we shouldn't waste so much time trying to appear perfect, and use that time to do something productive.
AmIRight?