“Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.”
I read this quote recently, and it stayed with me. It stayed with me because it stirred things up, things that I have been grappling with for the last few months. I have never been afraid of letting my vulnerability shine through, of showing people who I am. I write and I share our life, and in doing I hope to inspire people to do things that may seem scary or different, I hope to show them that living differently can be done. I want people to see our craziness and laugh at our poor choices, all the while realising that they are not alone, that everyone has their moments, we all have our failings. I love sharing the crazy things we do as a family and splicing in the beautiful moments on the way.
Over the years though, as social media has got heavier, and the world has been so inundated with perfection, people constantly bombarded from all sides, I’ve wrestled with my sharing, worrying that I might also be falling into the category of only showing the good – despite this not being my intention. I have been overwhelmed by content myself, sick of the adverts and perfectly curated snaps, and I found myself stepping back. Day by day my appetite for taking it all in faded. Until I found myself here. Not missing it, not wanting to know, and finding how much happier I am not swiping up… up… up…
But I missed this. I missed not sharing our stories, telling people they’re not alone in their bizarre life choices or inability to act as mature adults; that their children aren’t the only ones giving them grey hairs or shaking their very core. Life is not perfect and it’s certainly not always pretty, but I like to share the moments that are too. When things work out or exceed expectations. These things should be shared!
And so I find myself here. A crossroads of not wanting to contribute to the noise in the world but at the same time wanting to capture the essence of who we are and where we are in our lives. Share our strengths and our weaknesses. The very conundrum of it has been nibbling away at me, chewing at my centre. And I have no answer.
So instead, I hope. I hope that those who find my sharing uplifting or validating stay and read. And I hope those who see no value, don’t. Because life is too short to let social media dictate our lives, influence our choices and steer our moods. We need to be catalysts for what we want in the world. Shaun and I have always said; we want to raise our children to be in this world, but not of it. I’m realising I’m going to have to set a better example.
So, I’m going to start writing again, but invite you to read only if it fills you with joy, or hope, or validation, or pick a positive emotion – that! I want to contribute to happiness and positivity; I’m going full hippy on y’all!
So what started out as a ‘Wuth update’, has turned into a diatribe of why I haven’t been giving you regular ‘Wuth updates’! But with that in mind, I will step down my path of writing for those who feel fulfilled, entertained or enlightened while reading it. And I will do that for as long as that makes me happy. To lighter and brighter days!
Peace
