Helen Joy’s Photographer Blog
finding the beauty in a hard life
I’m having a love hate relationship with my phone lately. It’s about 50/50 on the good/bad chart.
I cannot stand how often I look at it. Literally hundreds of times a day, leaving almost no time for just being still.
I’m learning how much that lack of being still and quiet is killing me slowly from the inside out. I realize how dissatisfied I have become with my life NOT because of what I am viewing on my phone but because of what I am missing because of it.
Real beautiful life. Moments with my children. Nature. Thoughts. Inklings in my heart.
But I also want to embrace the beauty of social media. I mean, in a way I think social media has saved my sanity. Deep connections in a lonely time of life when the daily grind of staying home with constant needs from little ones has saved me.
Not only that, but it has spurred me on to find beauty in whatever life gives me.
The most common complaint I hear from all my friends regarding social media is that it makes them feel not enough or jealous of the seemingly perfect life that many people portray through Facebook or instagram.
Here’s what I have to say about that. Yes. You could view it that way...
“Oh look at so and so doing a craft with their kid while I’m over here drowning in laundry and depression”.
Or you could view it like this.
“Wow. I know having a child is NOT EASY. I bet she has laundry waiting all around here but she chose to set things aside and do something for her child.”
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I have seen women with nearly NO earthly possessions find beauty in a simple twig in a simple vase.
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I’ve seen women I know who struggle with depression choosing to see beauty in the shadows that the sun brings in.
I see people who I know who’s hearts are breaking, finding joy in simple things. Who simply choose to keep on keeping on.
It makes me want to keep trying, keep finding beauty in my own life.
And on hard days when I feel like I will royally screw up my children, I glance through the images on my Instagram feed. I don’t see fake happiness. I see real moments throughout a hard and painful life that I chose to see the beauty.
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This post has been brewing in my heart for a few weeks now. And last night my
, posted
the most eloquently written words
regarding something similar.
I love how she describes it as looking for the breadcrumbs.
So friends, if looking through social media makes you feel worse about yourself, you are either following the wrong people, or you are choosing to not celebrate with them that they are able to find the beauty.
It is there. Sometimes it is hard to see but it. is. there.
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And I just want to thank those around me for not being fake but for celebrating the tiny moments of joy and perseverance that you show me every day.
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