If You Only Knew

When I wake up each morning and look out the window on my side of the room, this is what I see, a field full of wildflowers.  Well they are weeds, swamp sunflowers and some purple weed I don't know the name of, but I like to call them wildflowers, it makes them sound prettier.

We as human beings have the ability to do that sometimes, turn weeds into wildflowers or reality into fantasy.  I had just been thinking about that when I popped by Jane's Blog and read her post, on what real life looks like, not the gussied up version we plaster on our blogs so often.  You can check her post out by clicking HERE.

Parts of Jane's post cracked me up, while other parts rang so true for me that it was a little scary.  But the truth is we are all living parallel lives in many ways, and knowing you aren't the only one with dog hair serving as a 5th food group in your house, or that the laundry threatens to eat you alive, makes you feel better.

For those of you with OCD, or who live perfect lives where children sing songs or write you poetry each day, or your husband makes you breakfast every morning (ok well that one is true for me), then turn away...no run away now!

No, that is not how real life is, because if it was, then shows like the "real" anything wouldn't be so popular.  Sitcoms like Father Knows Best (I loved that show!) and Leave it to Beaver would still reign supreme.  And don't misunderstand, I know that any show with the word "real" in the title is anything but real, but the premise that it shows people's vulnerabilities,  or the literal messiness that is real life is what people crave.

When I run in to people at the grocery store they will often say...wow you are so organized, you have so much going on...I don't know how you do it.  I often wander away thinking...were they talking to me?!  No, there must have been someone they knew standing behind me, because honey, if you only knew!

If you only knew how I cussed like a sailor this morning when I cut my finger on my #@$% tripod as I wandered around in my PJs at 8 am taking pictures.

If you only knew that I was frustrated beyond belief that after cutting my finger so bad that it bled like a stuck pig, all of the photos I took looked like crap.  So bad in fact that I am now sending my hugely expensive lens (the one that I've been saving for, the one that broke the budget this month) back to the store I bought it from!  And did I mention that the photo of the juvenile eagle 1 photo up, would have been awesome had the lens worked?!  Sadly, those juveniles don't just show up on my doorstep every day. :(

See that chart in the photo above, it helps you determine if your lens and camera are working properly to get clean, crisp photos (the ones taken with my new lens were horrible).  Yep, Mr. Tide and I spent precious time trying to figure out if it was me, or the lens.   All bets are off when a contest arises to determine if I am wrong or it the piece of equipment I am using is wrong.  9 times out of 10 it is operator error, followed by me saying things like ..."I can't figure this thing out!!", and I walk away in a huff.  Mr. Tide, the man who exemplifies the saying patience is a virtue, usually steps in, reminds me what time of the month it is, and helps in any way he can.  Lest you think he is perfect...he does however have the ability to walk past a folded pile of clothes for weeks without feeling a need to put them away!  And he believes that crumbs spontaneously generate from the kitchen counters, because he swears he wipes them down.  ;-)

If you only knew how much dog hair is on my floor right now you would swear a herd of alpacas live with me.  And yes, I vacuum frequently, but apparently I need to do it twice a day!  Ok, that is never gonna happen!

If you only knew that when the Verizon man showed up at my house yesterday I freaked out thinking, dear lord, I hope he doesn't need to go inside to check the line...maybe I can keep him in the living room and dining room which is straight and moderately dust free!

If you only knew that my dogs were barking and I had no bra on, not a pretty sight! (sorry Papa Jim and Doug if you are reading this!).

In blogland, time and reality are suspended.  There are no broken down barns like in the picture above.  It is edited, so all you see are the pretty flowers, the clean corners of houses, and the ramblings about finding the perfect this or that...but that's not real life.

I want friends who can call me and say, "ok, tell me if you think I'm crazy," and I don't, even if what they tell me would sound crazy to someone else!  And friends who I can call or email and say "ok, I cried because I'm afraid the plane is going to crash or my kids will get hurt while I'm overseas," and they won't tell me I've lost my mind, but will instead tell me that everything will be fine.

If you only knew how other people really lived, you wouldn't be so self conscious about how you live.  You wouldn't feel the need to say, "oh my house is a mess, when you just spent the last 2 days cleaning!"  You wouldn't feel the need to crop a photo once you realized that a pile of mail, or a pile of anything was in the shot.

My life is anything but organized, perfect, or even pretty some of the time, but it's wonderful none the less.  It's full of the good and the bad that make for an interesting life.  I am constantly entertained by the quest for everything that is vintage and imperfect that seems to be the style trend du jour right now.

People are paying exorbitant prices for things that are chippy, rusty, and imperfect and then trying their darnedest to arrange them precisely into their picture perfect worlds.  Does this not sound crazy to anyone else but me?!  Why crave imperfection in things and demand perfection in ourselves...this makes no sense to me, but what the heck do I know anyway!

If only you knew how little I know, how much I have to learn, how far from perfect I am, you would all run screaming for the hills...

***I was asked to re-instate the comments feature on my blog, but please know that for now I won't be able to reply unless you ask a specific question.  I know that sounds ungrateful, because I do love reading every one of them, but right now it's what I need to do, and I thank you for your understanding!"