Back to my roots: Get ready to see the ugly

If you haven’t been hanging out with me since I first started blogging, you may not know why I began this whole thing in the first place. You can read about it in my very first post, or if you don’t have time for that right now, I’ll give you the cliffs notes.

It occurred to me one day that we’re all big liars. Yeah, I’m talking about you. And me. We live our real lives, but present ourselves to the world as someone other than who we truly are. We do it online with our ‘Pinterest Perfect’ pictures: beautifully decorated homes, even though that’s the only wall we’ve done in the whole house; happy, smiling children who were at each others’ throats two minutes before we bribed them with Oreos; delicious looking meals, even though we ate fast food last night; spotlessly clean houses, even though every part outside the camera lens is trashed. We do it with our friends and families: madly dashing to clean up the house when we find out someone is making a surprise visit; keeping our cool with our misbehaving children until we’re alone with them; saying ‘I’m fine’ even though we’re struggling.

All this pretending has one shared outcome. It makes us feel alone. Isolated. Like no one else is going through the same thing as us or could ever truly understand us. And if they did see the real us… oh my! Surely they would judge. And dislike us. A lot.

Well, I’m here to put a stop to all this nonsense. We are not alone; a lot of other people are experiencing exactly the same things as us, and if we would just have the courage to be REAL, we might be surprised by how good it feels and how much it actually helps.

In the year and a half since I began this blog, I’ve gone back and forth between fulfilling my mission and straying from it. Some of my posts have shared where I am right in that moment (Tired comes to mind as the one in which I put myself out there the most and in return had the most feedback, specifically from other moms, who said, “Yes! That is exactly how I feel.”). Other posts have just been my random musings, without much rhyme or reason.

While I still plan to muse, I really want to get back to my roots this year. So I am beginning a project of sorts. I have begun to journal each day the realities of my life. For the next year, I will continue to journal each day. I won’t share every entry with you. I imagine that would get boring really fast. However, at least once a week, I will share the highlights. There will be good moments. There will be bad moments. There will be pictures; real life pictures of messy rooms and screaming kids.

To be honest, I have no idea where this project will take us. Maybe it will be a complete dud. I’m a stay at home mom, so let’s get real: My life is not the most interesting. But that’s just the thing. I know a lot of stay at home moms out there who are just as boring as me and I want you to know that you’re not alone! Our mundane lives may drive us to tears some days and fill us with euphoric love other days, but always, they have meaning. If you’re not a stay at home mom, stay with me for the journey anyway. We may be more alike than we think. (Besides, I’m planning to have some guests jump in with their real lives to spice things up every once in a while.)

I’d love your thoughts on this project. Feedback really helps me know if I’m going in the right direction. Plus, I would love to hear your ideas on specific areas you want to see in real life. Do you think you’re the only one with a messy kitchen? Think your kid is the only one who freaks out at the store? Think you’re the only parent who’s ever lost your temper? Tell me these things and I’ll try to hit on the topics that matter to you. Don’t think of this as my project; think of it as our project. Oh, one more thing. If you can come up with a catchy name for my year of honesty, let me know. The witty portion of my brain is a little sleepy at the moment.

Lauren Cormier

About Lauren Cormier

Lauren is a 30-something stay at home mom who doesn't have it all together and she's pretty sure you don't either. She hopes that by sharing her real life (not the glossy made-up version) she can encourage you to drop the act and get real. Lauren lives in Hermon with her husband and their three children. She also blogs at www.ohhonestly.net