#catchingmomentsoflove

Me:: The impression may be that I'm on social media a lot. I am not. But I have a very active presence on it. Between Facebook and Instagram you can see me daily. I love that Instagram can share to Facebook and Twitter.

I use social media for connection. I don't use it to numb or kill time, anymore. There was a time when I could get lost in the comparisons, maybe I will just call it the social media learning curve. Now I just want ease, connection and to adore my tribe that gathers each day virtually.

I use social media to show up in as much realness as I can offer in glimpses. I show pictures of beautiful food and of me in my car with a bag of potato chips. I take selfies on good hair days and on days after I have been sitting in the car for two hours in front of the emergency room having a panic attack.

I use social media to tell a story. A story of my life so that I may connect to other's lives. I use it to catch moments I may have overlooked and ground me in the now, hoping to ground others in their's.

Mostly pictures tell my story on social media. Sometimes a poem. I may feel moved to share deep truths knowing that my deep truth is not mine to hold alone, but ours to share. I didn't have a computer in college you know. We still used pay phones.

There is this deep desire inside of me to want to fully show ME on social media.

I want to be the one who you meet for the first time in person and hear you say, "Omg, you are just like you are online."

But I'm not.

I am the one who you meet and you say, "Whoa you are so different than I thought. You don't ever sit still. Not as zen as I thought."

Zen? Me? ZEN? Haven't I mentioned that I rearrange furniture every week and that I have ADD and my anxiety is, well, high?

A friend of mine once said that I was the person who walked into a room and changed the breeze because I bring my own wind. So maybe that doesn't show up in a still picture, a moment in time.

I'm learning to be OK with that. I share on social media with my vibration, my energy, my soul's song. If you find some zen in all that, kind of cool right?

You:: I want you to see the mess and the beauty. I want to tell a real story and through that story connect you with the work I do in this world. Because what I am living and what I bring are connected. Their stories mingle. Social media allows me that gorgeous gateway to sharing this.

But you will see what you want. You will perhaps only see the beauty, those moments captured in time. You'll see a cute smile and think they never fight or throw tantrums, even if I tell you that they do, all the time.

I will keep telling you about my panic attacks and when my heart hurts. I will keep capturing moments of love. I will keep showing up because I want you to show up in your life.

Sometimes you'll tell me things like this, on social media:: "Thank you for saying it out loud, feels less lonely when I read your words." And so I keep telling my stories, because you and I are walking together.

If my (or anyone's) sharing on social media ever makes you feel less than, take a break, find a new way. Stop looking at the newsfeed and take more pictures of yourself. Comment only on your own posts for a while. Leave your phone at home and go for a walk. Challenge yourself to find that sweetspot inside of social media that brings truth, story, connection and some joy into your world.

You can find that spot. I did. I love it there. I take breaks when I need them. I send blessings of connection in that sweet spot. And the energetic vibrations that are returned are magical.

If you are struggling to find contentment on social media you can go, leave. You don't have to be there. Simple, I know, but you can. Or you grab a hashtag and play the gratitude game. Every time you take a picture with a hashtag down below it is a gratitude to life. To you.

If you'd like to play along on Instagram here are some hashtags::

#catchingmomentsoflove This is my new one. I'm excited that it will allow me to find little 'love notes' inside of my day.

#startingmoments Read about that one here.

#ilovethislifenow No explanation needed right?

#operationselfcarelikewhoa For when you are stepping into that deep level of self care that maybe you forgot you needed and it is saving your life.

#magicmaking Cause we all need to remember to see and make magic in our days.

My favorite thing about life is choice. That we choose how we want to feel. Social media is an amazing place to practice this. Out of over 3,000 friends on FB I have the most beautiful group of people who choose to lift each other up. This is what I draw into my life through social media and what I invite you to take on.

We choose how we want to feel. So on social media I'll be #catchingmomentsoflove, sharing my work and showing up in all my realness. Can't wait to see you there.

xo

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Thank you to Social Media Consciousness: The blog project, for asking me to write a piece and be a part of this conversation. Follow #socialmediaconsciousness on Twitter and make sure to read some or all of the other posts. The conversation is brilliantly open and real.