NO MORE FAKING IT IN 2015

I've decided 2015 is the year of truth. I'm over 40. No more bullshit. No more #blessed (although, let's be honest I could never stoop to such a hashgag). Social media has begun to feel like an invasion of my mind and soul. A black hole of braggadociosness. A ticket to the False Frontier. I can't help but hear the "do do do do" chiming in my mind as a Rod Sterling-like voice reminds me each time I click on Facebook that I am willingly about to enter a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind (fuck). A journey into a land whose boundaries are that of imagination (in that there are no boundaries). I am about to enter--The Highlight Zone. And then all the highlights come scrolling down photoshopped to perfection with accolades, achievements and superlatives. Don't get me wrong, I love my friends and want good things to happen to and for them. But I've also lived long enough to know that there's unfortunately more of life with bad hair days, blotchy skin, kid meltdowns, disappointments and cranky episodes than one would think based upon any (mine included) facebook status streams. My kids, however, do not know better.

Since granting Gabe, my 11 year-old son, persmission to enter this new dimension, I have watched him continuously capture moments for the sole purpose of creating a filtered Instagram image to garner "likes." Likes apparently equate with number of friends. Because everybody needs 81 friends who "like" your show-off Laker game seats. I'm sure you can call each and every one of them when you need help moving furniture or running to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription. I listen to conversations between my kids and their friends about which photos to put up as they carefully craft supposedly casual taglines about what they are doing. My son takes greater care with his postings than he does with his homework. They must be "perfect." I get it. He's creating a brand to compete with all the other brands, er, kids out there.

It's not just the younger generations getting caught up with keeping up. My 71 year-old mom and her peers use Facebook as the Grandma Brag book 2.0. Each grandchild is smarter, cuter and more advanced than the next. Every time my mom whips out her camera phone, my kids plead with her not to post the picture before they have "approved it." They are apparently the self-appointed editors of my mom's lifestyle story. And it's not all about the grandkids either. After endless practice pics, Grandma has perfected the selfie so that she looks "younger and thinner." I know this because Zoey, my 8 year-old daughter, told me so.

Let's face it. Facebook is more like Fakebook. All of us who take part in social media are contributing to the marketing and branding of human beings. I am just as proud of my kids as you are of yours but I'm pretty sure it's not helpful for them to grow up in a world where we only share our triumphs. So for the next 365 days, I'm stripping it down to the raw me-- going Real World (and not in the MTV kind of way). I've decided to post one Facebook status a day that is real. That doesn't mean they will all be complaining, bitter and grumpy. I am grateful that I do have truly wonderful days and feel lucky and priviliged often. But I also feel like crap a lot too. That's the point. Life is complicated and ever-changing unlike a static glossy magazine advertisement.

I may embarrass my husband and kids, but ultimately I hope to show them what a real life looks like. Happy 2015!

First Facebook Post - January 1, 2015

Licked the frosting off 2 cupcakes for dinner after Zoey kicked, screamed and massively melted down with an NYE hangover to rival partying like 1999. Oh and then Ohio State won.*

*I wonder how many likes I'll get?