My students have a saying for when you tell someone’s business to a group of people- you’ve “put them on blast.”

I’ve wondered recently if people read our blog and get uncomfortable with what we write about. We created la vita vera because we wanted to encourage others to pursue authenticity alongside us. Jon and I have both grown the most from the moments we have been vulnerable, especially with one another. In a world where relationships often seem to be sustained through social media, it can be quite attractive to hide behind our best moments in life, trying to create our ideal image but never really giving people the full picture.

What would happen if we posted our true thoughts, tweeted our empty desires, and captured our ugly moments? If we “#nofilter”-ed the messiness of real life. Maybe then we would all feel a bit more connected and a lot less lonely. I have experienced this recently in my confessions about body image and struggles with being a new mom.

If we were all a lot more transparent about what goes on behind closes doors, sharing the groans of our burdened hearts and confessing the darkness we see within, then maybe we could let go of pride and extend the grace we are freely given to others – some of those in very similar situations. We would also probably realize that we are all a lot more alike than we may believe.

I find myself growing slowly more comfortable with putting myself “on blast” in my aim to encourage others to pursue authenticity.

….

 

I wrote this last year about this time. School began shortly after, and I never posted it. Reading it now is a good reminder and challenge as I am in the midst of posting fun pictures of our travel and cute shots of Jack. These things are good and totally acceptable to post, but I want to strike a healthy balance of presenting our celebrations and our lessons.

-k

 

Photo: Tommy Cafe (One of many photos I took of the lovely cafes in Montreal.)