For The Love

First off, blogging's never been my thing. Truthfully, my initial thoughts were: "Are blogs even a thing anymore? Does the world really need another person blabbing about how awesome their life is or how cute their clothes are or how you can turn your house into this beautiful mansion with $5 dollars and a screwdriver?" Of course that's not what all blogs are about but that was how I built them up in my mind. It felt like another outlet for people to turn the spotlight on them so they could be praised by all their viewers. 

So, here's the thing about this blog. It's purpose is mostly to spew my guts out about the real parts of life in hopes of making people feel like they can relate to at least a tiny part of what I say. It's purpose is to bring light to real life problems we all face and sometimes just need to hear that we're not alone to feel better about it. 

I was inspired me to start one because one of my biggest pet peeves in life is insincerity. I hate feeling like I have to put on a show for people to be accepted and I hate feeling like that's what people are doing with me. Most of us spend our time trying to convince everyone that we're perfect and that we got it all figured out. We train ourselves to think that if you don't have your ish together there must be something wrong with you. I'll be the first to admit that I definitely fall under this category from time to time AND I HATE IT. My hope is that as I put my real feelings out into the blogging world that it will give courage to people (including myself) to stop the need to put on a show.

This morning I stumbled across one of my friend's blogs. It was moving and beautifully written. It wasn't even about anything traditionally "moving." It was just her. It was genuine. She held nothing back about the things she struggles with and how her life is anything but perfect. She talks about her mental breakdowns, the unkind judgements she sometimes passes, the addiction she has to Diet Coke. The greatest thing she talks about though is how she manages to find peace through her Savior despite the chaos. I was amazed. Why was I so captured with this girl's very normal day-to-day routine? Because I could relate to her. 

I also just finished reading a book called "Daring Greatly" by Brene Brown. (Totally life-changing. I highly recommend it.) She mentions how often times we think of being brave as not letting the world see our weak spots. However, when we watch someone else be open about their weaknesses, we call it courageous. It really struck a chord with me. The only logical reason I could think of for why we do that is because we're afraid. We're afraid the world will see the real us and think we're undesirable.

It's been a combination of these two experiences that helped me realize that it's not about how high we build our walls that make us powerful or about how perfect we pretend to be. It's about exposing our true selves and letting that side of us be seen. God did not create us to live in fear. Growth does not come from pretending we've already reached perfection. It comes from brushing the dust off after falling flat on our faces and trying again. 


I decided to name this post, "For the Love" because of some funny experiences I've had with a dear friend at work. I catch him using this phrase all the time. Every time something goes slightly wrong- "for the love." He forgets his keys inside after we've already made it to the parking lot- "for the love." He drops an orange peel on the ground and sees no practical way of picking it up without dropping the 10 other things he already has in his hands- "for the love." It cracks me up every time I witness one of those moments and it's a good reminder that we're all human. We can expect to make mistakes. Once we capture that, the pressure is off. There's no one left to impress. 

Now, you will quickly come to find out that my religious affiliation plays a big role in my views on life. Much of what I say here will probably refer back to that. I'm a strong Christian and find a lot of life's answers through my belief in Jesus Christ. It's because of my relationship with Him that I find peace during some of the hardest times and because of that I will be forever grateful to Him.

To wrap this all up, my main reasoning for starting this personal vent sesh was to be another voice among the many that helps people realize that we're all trying to figure things out and if you think you already have then you're wrong. In the words of Brene Brown, "Courage is showing up and letting yourself be seen."