A Carefully Curated Life

These days everywhere you look there is this image of curated perfection. Perfectly decorated houses. Perfectly clothed children. Perfect relationships. Perfect motherhood. We live in an age of visual comparison. We see these perfect images of all the perfect things we wish we could have or be. It’s hard not to fall into the trap of self-judgement and feeling less than enough when we are inundated on a daily basis with the image of perfect.

I was listening to a group of moms talk the other day and almost every single one said that she felt not enough. That she felt she wasn’t doing enough, being enough, or giving enough. That stopped in my tracks. Why? Why were these kind, generous, loving women feeling like this? It hurt my heart and kind of made me want to shake them. That’s not to say I never feel like this. It’s just when someone else voices these feelings, it’s easier to see the error in this way of thought. I think as women and moms this has been a struggle from the beginning of time, but in a world of Pinterest-perfect posts it is becoming a rampant epidemic.

Life isn’t perfect. We make mistakes, we lose our tempers, the house is messy, the kids are dirty, and perfectly healthy snacks are nowhere be seen. This doesn’t mean we fail. It means we are living a real life. It’s not always perfect. It’s not always tidy, but in the midst of the crazy there is this beauty all its own.

My everyday life may not make the most gorgeous Instagram feed but guess what? I don't live a carefully curated life. It’s more like a random assortment of great moments that connect us to each other. It’s the daily act of being a family and finding joy in the everyday. That’s really what I want for my family. To curate these moments that matter. To focus less on the perfection and more on the living well.

How do I do that? There isn’t a one answer fits all, but I do know that when I take the focus off of doing everything right and work more on the relationships within my family things seem to fall into place. It’s not all the doing that makes relationships great. It’s the being. Being truly present. In these moments, I care a little less of the perfect state of my house and a little more about the moments that are truly important in this life.