Perfect Blogger Syndrome

You know, there's so many wonderful things to be said about blogging. It brings us new friends, gives us ways to document our lives, and can bring a sense of purpose as we bring a message to the world. But, there's also bad things. Have you ever read someone's blog and thought "Why can't I be like THEM?" Have you ever edited a post because you thought "Oh, my hair looks awful in that picture" or "I don't really need to share that story"? I think we all get to this point at sometime or another. I mean, how can we resist comparing ourselves to others in blogging when we do it in real life? 

I think there's something out there called Perfect Blogger Syndrome. How many times do we "run out of things to blog about" because our lives seem so boring compared to others? How many times to we disappear because our lives are no longer glamorous and fun and exciting? I've read so many posts on this subject this week and I think I've figured out why I don't blog anymore. It's not because I've run out of topics. It's just that the topics I have aren't fun and exciting. I've learned that life isn't always "Yay Jesus!". Sometimes it's a quiet prayer for help getting through the day, and that's okay. It doesn't make me any less of a person because my dorm room looks like, well...a dorm room. It doesn't make me any less of a person because I don't go on fun and exciting trips and meet fun and exciting people. I'm still me, Lauren. I'm still a blogger. God has me in this place in my life for a reason. This week, Ashlyn wrote a post on her blogging comeback. In it, she wrote

I've realized that I need to get over myself, because there's people out there--at least I'm pretty sure--that don't always want to see a shimmering little life where my nails are always an unchipped You Don't Know Jacques and my new little Atlanta home looks like Pinterest knocked on my door and said "GIRL, get out da way I'm here to decorate." And where it's really easy to be 23-and-a-half because you were pretty good at college and then lived by yourself on the road for a year. This stage is more like the junior high of adulthood. And that's okay!

It's okay. It's okay not to be perfect. It's okay not to have all your Christmas decorations up. It's okay not to have a perfect family Christmas card. God loves us in spite of our imperfections, so it really shouldn't matter what people think. It's okay not to always have fun adventures to share- we can still share the ordinary, mundane events of life. That just makes the exciting times look all the more exciting. It's okay not to be the "Perfect Blogger" with 456,343,233,783 followers. It's hard not to compare ourselves to others, but it makes blogging so much more enjoyable. 

After all, didn't we start this to write down memories so that we could remember them years from now? Didn't we start blogging to bring glory to God...and not to ourselves? These are things I need to remember in times when I'm tempted to compare myself to the "Perfect Blogger". None of us are perfect. Some of us just let our imperfections shine through more than others. Let's take down the facade and not be afraid to be ordinary. After all, I'm no celebrity. I'm just a girl in college from a small town in Alabama. Embrace the ordinary. Embrace the mundane. Find contentment in who you really are and not who you're pretending to be.