The Keepin' it Real Files - March 2014
I am a firm believer in keeping it real. Whether it be online or offline, I try to be as honest as I can about my life. I don't see the point in airbushing things (unless of course you're talking about a giant pimple on my chin, I'd probably airbrush that. But only if it was in a picture I intended on hanging on my wall. Nobody wants to see that shiz!).
I also hate the distinction IRL or In Real Life. Everything is real life. What we post online, what we do offline. Online stuff is not fake, or magical or make believe. Not to me anyway. It's all just my life. The only distinction is some of it is lived on the internet and some of it is not. It's all real. And I think more people need to remember that.
Maybe people might start to think twice before they post some of the shit they do online, if they treated their interactions online in the same way they treat their interactions offline. The way the world is today, we can't afford for people to still be thinking that their online life isn't "real life" and the usual rules of common society don't apply when hangin' out online.
But I digress.
Isn't it funny how sometimes you can read one thing and then suddenly you seem to read 2 or 3 other things along the same lines or theme? That happened to me lately on the issue of creatively cropping pictures before posting online or via Instagram. People cleaning and tidying things before taking pictures.
Or using the cropping tools of photo apps to cut out crap and junk and make it seem like their houses and lives weren't as messy as what they really were.
I have to tell you, I don't understand this. Why? What are people afraid of? Are they afraid of being labelled as lazy? Or dirty? Or afraid of people thinking they have no pride in themselves or their homes? I don't see the point in lying or stretching the truth, and trying to be something I'm not. This is me, this is my life. What you see is what you get.
Most of the photos I post to Instagram are filled with crap! And that is for two reasons.
Number 1. I'm lazy as shit. Yep, that's right, I'll own it. I'm lazy. I don't spend my days tidying my house and putting things away and making sure it's "people-ready" at all times. I just can't be bothered. We live in a near-constant state of CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome). The only reason why I tidy my house when I have people coming over is to make room for them!
Don't get me wrong, my house isn't dirty. I clean and vacuum and wash the floors and do the dishes (ok, my dishwasher does those) and the laundry (ok, so Dave does most of that!). In fact some days I feel like all I ever do is clean and tidy up after small people. However what I don't do is iron, I hardly ever fold the laundry, I only put away all the kids toys once a day, and I don't make more washing for myself than is necessary.
Shock, horror, but my girls sometimes wear the same clothes 2 days in a row. In fact so do I! If we are having a few home-days, where we don't have to go anywhere, I don't see the point in putting clean clothes on the baby just to sit around the house. She's 7 months old and she can't crawl. She hardly gets dirty. I put a bib on her at meal times or take her clothes off her, and they are good to go for another day, most of the time.
The toddler is a little different, it's almost impossible for a 2 year old to consume a meal without wearing it most of the time, but that's half the fun of being 2! You've got a licence to make mess. So I take her shirt off when she is eating and put it back on after she's been cleaned up. And if by some miracle her shirt remains mostly clean, with only a spot or two of vegemite on it, then I consider it clean enough to wear around the house the next day.
In fact I consider it crazy to put a clean shirt on her the next day, when she is just gonna dirty up that one too. I'm not dressing her in filthy rags, don't get me wrong. But everything within reason, a couple of vegemite spots, pen marks or spots of whatever cream/substance she's nicked off with and smeared on the walls that day, is not enough to warrant wearing a new shirt to just be hanging around the house in.
If it's been a hot day, where I sweat loads, or I've gotten particularly dirty for one reason or another, I'll wear a clean shirt the next day. Or if I'm going out. But if we are just hanging out at home for the day then I'll wear the shirt and bottoms I had on the day before. Simple as that. I work on the same theory for coffee cups. Why use half a dozen cups when you can just give the one you're using a rinse out and make your next cup of tea or coffee in it? Saves some space in the dishwasher at any rate!
For some people, the thought of living in a messy house does their head in. They can't do it. And that's cool. If you have to live in a house that's always tidy, more power to ya. I know people like this and I have respect for the way they manage to keep their houses mess and clutter-free. It's just not something I prioritise. To do all the things I wanna do (blog, read, study, play with the girls, hang out with Dave, watch TV, go out with friends) I have to make a few sacrifices and let some things go, and worrying about mess is something I choose not to do.
If I worried about it I would go insane. Because A) for me, the reality is that I'm not the sort of person who is able to keep their house tidy 24/7, small children or no; and B) if I can't make time to do the things I love and wanna do then I am not a nice person, I'm not a happy person. And when Mummy's not happy, ain't nobody happy! So I do what I gotta do to make it all work, without us actually living in squalor, either!
And now I've forgotten what reason number 2 was! Probably along the same lines as being lazy, I'm too lazy to spend my time creatively cropping mess out of photos. Who could be bothered?! I'd rather spend any time I do playing with filters so mess looks arty as well as messy!
I'm sure I'm not alone in this. I can't be the only person who keeps their clean washing in a pile on a lounge in the corner of the dining room, or uses half of their dining table as a dumping ground half of the time? Surely not everyone we interact with online via blogs and social media have these immaculate houses with no mess or clutter anywhere, and beautiful, whimsical, inspiring posters all over the place with glowing white walls and glistening floors. Right?
I would love to see what other bloggers houses really look like at the end of the day. Because I'm betting they're not all immaculate all of the time. And I'd love to see that!
So let's keep it real, are you honest about your life when you're hanging out online? Do you agree that there shouldn't really be this distinction of online and "real life"?
What things do you "let go" or prioritise over others to make a happy life? Are you a tidy person or a messy person like me?
And if you are one of those people with the glowing white walls, immaculate living spaces and inspiring posters on the walls, can you come do the same to my house? (Ah, who am I kidding, what would be the point, it would only last a day or two anyway!)
Linking up with Jess coz it's Tuesday and IBOT!
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I also hate the distinction IRL or In Real Life. Everything is real life. What we post online, what we do offline. Online stuff is not fake, or magical or make believe. Not to me anyway. It's all just my life. The only distinction is some of it is lived on the internet and some of it is not. It's all real. And I think more people need to remember that.
Maybe people might start to think twice before they post some of the shit they do online, if they treated their interactions online in the same way they treat their interactions offline. The way the world is today, we can't afford for people to still be thinking that their online life isn't "real life" and the usual rules of common society don't apply when hangin' out online.
But I digress.
 |
| I was going to add arrows pointing to all the mess but I would have had to include so many that they would cover all the mess. Just ignore the cute kids and look in the background of the pics and you'll get an idea of the mess I'm talking about. |
Isn't it funny how sometimes you can read one thing and then suddenly you seem to read 2 or 3 other things along the same lines or theme? That happened to me lately on the issue of creatively cropping pictures before posting online or via Instagram. People cleaning and tidying things before taking pictures.
Or using the cropping tools of photo apps to cut out crap and junk and make it seem like their houses and lives weren't as messy as what they really were.
I have to tell you, I don't understand this. Why? What are people afraid of? Are they afraid of being labelled as lazy? Or dirty? Or afraid of people thinking they have no pride in themselves or their homes? I don't see the point in lying or stretching the truth, and trying to be something I'm not. This is me, this is my life. What you see is what you get.
Most of the photos I post to Instagram are filled with crap! And that is for two reasons.
Number 1. I'm lazy as shit. Yep, that's right, I'll own it. I'm lazy. I don't spend my days tidying my house and putting things away and making sure it's "people-ready" at all times. I just can't be bothered. We live in a near-constant state of CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome). The only reason why I tidy my house when I have people coming over is to make room for them!
 |
| I live by this mantra! Although I must admit, this is getting to the top end of messiness and it has actually been cleared a bit since this photo was taken, I needed space to put my notebook and textbook while doing Tafe stuff! |
Don't get me wrong, my house isn't dirty. I clean and vacuum and wash the floors and do the dishes (ok, my dishwasher does those) and the laundry (ok, so Dave does most of that!). In fact some days I feel like all I ever do is clean and tidy up after small people. However what I don't do is iron, I hardly ever fold the laundry, I only put away all the kids toys once a day, and I don't make more washing for myself than is necessary.
Shock, horror, but my girls sometimes wear the same clothes 2 days in a row. In fact so do I! If we are having a few home-days, where we don't have to go anywhere, I don't see the point in putting clean clothes on the baby just to sit around the house. She's 7 months old and she can't crawl. She hardly gets dirty. I put a bib on her at meal times or take her clothes off her, and they are good to go for another day, most of the time.
The toddler is a little different, it's almost impossible for a 2 year old to consume a meal without wearing it most of the time, but that's half the fun of being 2! You've got a licence to make mess. So I take her shirt off when she is eating and put it back on after she's been cleaned up. And if by some miracle her shirt remains mostly clean, with only a spot or two of vegemite on it, then I consider it clean enough to wear around the house the next day.
In fact I consider it crazy to put a clean shirt on her the next day, when she is just gonna dirty up that one too. I'm not dressing her in filthy rags, don't get me wrong. But everything within reason, a couple of vegemite spots, pen marks or spots of whatever cream/substance she's nicked off with and smeared on the walls that day, is not enough to warrant wearing a new shirt to just be hanging around the house in.
If it's been a hot day, where I sweat loads, or I've gotten particularly dirty for one reason or another, I'll wear a clean shirt the next day. Or if I'm going out. But if we are just hanging out at home for the day then I'll wear the shirt and bottoms I had on the day before. Simple as that. I work on the same theory for coffee cups. Why use half a dozen cups when you can just give the one you're using a rinse out and make your next cup of tea or coffee in it? Saves some space in the dishwasher at any rate!
For some people, the thought of living in a messy house does their head in. They can't do it. And that's cool. If you have to live in a house that's always tidy, more power to ya. I know people like this and I have respect for the way they manage to keep their houses mess and clutter-free. It's just not something I prioritise. To do all the things I wanna do (blog, read, study, play with the girls, hang out with Dave, watch TV, go out with friends) I have to make a few sacrifices and let some things go, and worrying about mess is something I choose not to do.
If I worried about it I would go insane. Because A) for me, the reality is that I'm not the sort of person who is able to keep their house tidy 24/7, small children or no; and B) if I can't make time to do the things I love and wanna do then I am not a nice person, I'm not a happy person. And when Mummy's not happy, ain't nobody happy! So I do what I gotta do to make it all work, without us actually living in squalor, either!
And now I've forgotten what reason number 2 was! Probably along the same lines as being lazy, I'm too lazy to spend my time creatively cropping mess out of photos. Who could be bothered?! I'd rather spend any time I do playing with filters so mess looks arty as well as messy!
I'm sure I'm not alone in this. I can't be the only person who keeps their clean washing in a pile on a lounge in the corner of the dining room, or uses half of their dining table as a dumping ground half of the time? Surely not everyone we interact with online via blogs and social media have these immaculate houses with no mess or clutter anywhere, and beautiful, whimsical, inspiring posters all over the place with glowing white walls and glistening floors. Right?
 |
| What my house often looks like at the end of the day, especially on a night shift night when I've done the whole evening routine by myself and can't be bothered to do anything but flake on the couch. The mess will still be there tomorrow! |
I would love to see what other bloggers houses really look like at the end of the day. Because I'm betting they're not all immaculate all of the time. And I'd love to see that!
So let's keep it real, are you honest about your life when you're hanging out online? Do you agree that there shouldn't really be this distinction of online and "real life"?
What things do you "let go" or prioritise over others to make a happy life? Are you a tidy person or a messy person like me?
And if you are one of those people with the glowing white walls, immaculate living spaces and inspiring posters on the walls, can you come do the same to my house? (Ah, who am I kidding, what would be the point, it would only last a day or two anyway!)
Linking up with Jess coz it's Tuesday and IBOT!
And while I've got your attention, why don't you subscribe by email too? All the cool kids are doing it!
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Comments
I sometimes make the distinction between in real life and online life, but more when I am talking about people I have met. Like..I know this person in real life, as a face to face person, not just in my computer screen. In saying that though, a lot of the people that I have met online I consider friends and call them so when interacting. Or if I am telling Paul about my day.
Ai @ Sakura Haruka
I am one of those people who doesn't like clutter, but with two little boys the reality is we always have 'stuff' strewn everywhere. Currently my toddler is 'swimming' through a sea of toys on the floor - will post an IG pic just for you!
And the end of our kitchen bench is the dumping ground that I'm constantly trying to keep under control. Don't think I'll ever win that battle!
I love organising so I really do TRY to keep a neat house, but of course it doesn't happen. My loungeroom currently has a laundry basket full of clean laundry, my coffee table is covered in my camera, tupperware orders, a random nerf bullet and an iPod charger. You are definitely not alone!
Visiting from #IBOT
Plus I don't need to have a perfect house that looks amazing. All I want, is for people to come over and feel comfortable and enjoy each others company. That's what matters to me.
I also think you're onto something in relation to the whole 'in real life' thing, if that distinction could be removed I think so many online interactions could be much better!
Interesting thoughts on IRL. Everything is absolutely real life, I totally agree with you. But I guess sometimes people tend to use the internet more for a distorted perception of things. Sad but true.
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