D E T A I L S
T-shirt: Etsy (x-small) | Pants: Old Navy (size 0)
Sometimes people will comment about being surprised I dress so nice to work– being a special ed teacher and all. I might be wearing a fun dress and bright shoes… but that’s just a snapshot of my day. Truth is, I am a true chaos coordinator… but if you just looked at my instagram or “highlight reel”… there are so many missing pieces of what I do as a teacher every single day. Things that are impossible to explain via caption, good picture, bad picture, funny picture… no picture… actually no picture might say the most to how my days go, ha!
So… “Instagram is just a highlight reel”
True or false?
To me, it’s false. If I had a reel, most of the highlights I experience throughout the day can’t be captured. Maybe in my words, but definitely not on any picture I post on social media. I know that social media can get us down sometimes. There is so much comparison and opinions floating around out there. I get it, it’s hard not to compare a hand-me-down classroom from 60 years ago to a bright and bubbly beautifully furnished one. Maybe it’s your size, your financial situation, but it’s a normal human behavior to want what others have, I understand that.
I didn’t grow up with very much and I think that has helped me steer away of the comparison game. Moving your mindset from “but I don’t have that…” to “I’m happy you have that” is a large task… but an important one. On the days like yesterday where I was so frustrated about 20 different things, I have to stop to ask myself, “what can I control? ASHLEY… HELLLLLO… You can control your feelings!” I’m constantly grounding myself in that idea.
Scrolling through instagram can be hard, but trust me, behind every picture someone posts, there are thousands of things you can see or tell about them. Experiences that they’ve lived, people they’ve met, disappointments, moments of failure, moments of pride. A picture is just a picture… not a highlight reel or a “you’re better than me” visual… It’s just a picture that represents something… but whatever that something is makes that person feel happy and proud… or is a message they want to share.
It’s not about what you have, or they have, or any sort of comparison, it’s simply about sharing… an idea, a classroom, a cute quote, an outfit… it’s spreading the knowledge and collaborating. We are all at different places in our journey. Our journey’s may be hard, but they can be joyful. In the middle of all the chaos, comparison, and stress… sometimes we just gotta stop and choose joy. Joy for others + joy for ourselves.
Social media is only one piece to our puzzle of many pieces.
I don’t know, those are just my thoughts. What do you think? I look forward to hearing your perspective 🙂