There’s been a trend on social media lately towards the authentic. I think this is happening because for a lot of us, we could feel the humanity disappearing from our feeds. Like everything had become staged for the perfect cinematic production instead of the honest happenings of our lives.

 

Over the past few years, I’ll admit that I too started to fall into this trap of perfection. Sharing only the staged images with captions that made me sound like some perfectly poised artist living a fairytale life. And a few months ago, it all caught up with me. I started to get frustrated that what I was sharing felt fake. So one day I didn’t post what I had scheduled. And a couple days later, I didn’t post again. And this kept happening until I just decided to stop sharing altogether.

 

 

Before I knew it, a month had passed where I hadn’t shown my face (or any face) on social media. I felt unmotivated to share even the smallest detail of my life online.

 

But then the most wonderful thing happened: a seed of an idea was planted. I started to feel excited again and I realized that I still wanted to share. I wanted to try something new because I realized that when we connect, whether it’s through an Instagram caption or a Facebook Live, I want you to feel like we actually know each other. And maybe that we’re even friends.

 

I want the content I share to create the feeling that it’s just the two of us, sitting on my front porch on a warm summer evening, watching the fireflies start to light up all over my valley. Freya is laying at our feet, Pixel is hunting cicadas on the porch behind us, and we exchange stories of favorite memories from when we were kids. I want us to chat about who our favorite authors are and what excites us the most. I want us to discuss the best way to enjoy the full moon on a summer evening and maybe sing along to the songs that we’re really feeling right now.

 

And I thought to myself, “what if I just shared what’s on my heart and what makes me see the world as a more beautiful place?”

 

What if, instead of always posting my latest portraits, I also shared a music playlist or a tutorial on how to create art when you have no money. And what if, even more importantly, instead of always stating what I think and what I believe, I asked you what you believed? What you thought about a quote, or what your favorite holiday traditions were? What if, instead of always just pushing content, I helped to make this a truly interactive experience?

 

 

And that’s when the idea for some sort of “field guide” came to my mind. And to be honest, I’ve never felt more refreshed by the possibilities of this new idea or more excited to start creating and sharing again. I’ve spent the last month or so really thinking about content and pulling it all together, so while it may still be “curated”, it will also be 100% authentic. And I cannot wait to share what I have been preparing.

 

So as my parting words on this post, here’s my advice to you: if you ever feel guilt for feeling like you need to take a step back (or even turn around and hide) from what you are doing right now. DON’T. 

Understand that you can never follow (or even see) a new direction if you’re completely focused on staying on the same path you’ve been walking down. When you’re worn out, you are too tired to come up with new, fresh ideas and when it feels like drudge work, you’re never going to create with passion. Most importantly, though: when you’re not happy… then what is even the point?

 

 

I truly believe that God speaks to all of us and directs our paths through the aid of the Holy Spirit. I know the things I’ve been learning these last few months as I’ve been reevaluating what I’m doing and why I’m doing it are because He was guiding me to new paths. God wants to be involved in the very minute details in your life, because He knows those are what makes you happy and therefore make you who you are. Let Him be involved. Listen for His gentle guidance and you will be led to possibilities you could have never even conceived.

 

So if your heart is telling you to stop or to change directions: listen. You won’t regret it.