Introvert + Instagram = ?

Hey Friend!

How are you? The hot weather has continued and I for one am so happy about that! Yes, there will always be the moaners complaining that it’s too hot. And yes, I do understand it can be dangerous for some. But on the whole, doesn’t it just make you smile to see sunshine and blue skies? To not have to wear a jacket, to enjoy the sun-kissed glow of your skin?

Or maybe that’s just me.

I mentioned recently that I’ve started an Instagram page. How’s it going, you ask?

Slowly.

Why?

Because I don’t know what I’m doing! 😄

There’s also a vulnerability in posting, I feel. It’s the same with this blog, I guess. You put yourself out there in words and hope someone will ‘like’ or ‘comment’ or even share and say, ‘look at this great post!’

But that’s not happened so far. There are a few likes but the interaction I was hoping for hasn’t materialised. Yet.

This may be in part to me not being a regular poster. I’m at work all day, I don’t particularly want to have to think about it when I get in as that’s when full-on mum duties kick in. And when I do have the time, I sit staring at other people’s pages and the clever, quirky and witty things they’ve posted and think: Why didn’t I think of that?

I’ve heard it said that comparison is the thief of joy, and to a certain extent, it is true.

My continually comparing my Insta account to others has only had me stuck doing not very much in more than enough time. It’s not helpful in the slightest.

I regularly tell my children that they are their biggest competition. You don’t look at the grade your friend got on a test and feel bad because your grade was lower. No. Instead you look at what YOU got on the last test – did you improve? Brilliant! You’ve beat your personal best and that’s worth celebrating.

But does that apply here?

My whole reason for doing this blog and the Instagram page is to share. Growing up, I was always the quiet one. It wasn’t that I didn’t have things to say or opinions. I just wasn’t very good at sharing them with lots of people at once. Call it shyness, introverted, whatever, but because I wasn’t speaking very much, I was labelled as boring or uninteresting. I can say with certainty that I’m neither of those things. I’ve been told I’m very wise, give good advice and I’m also pretty funny (Little Miss said I should change pretty to incredibly, but it’s important to be modest). I’m just the sort of person who finds it easier to put words on a page rather than speaking them face-to-face.

It’s not so much that I’m in competition with myself, but that I have to push myself out of that comfortable spot that I like sitting in. I have to be willing to – and able to – market myself which is a completely foreign concept to me.

Over the years, writing job applications, cover letters and personal statements, I’ve never wanted to say, ‘Look at me! I’m great!’ It was more like ‘Look at me, if you want. I’m okay, I guess.’ Which is why I always ran those things by my trusted friend who would effectively tell me, ‘You can do this job with your eyes closed – make them believe it!’

I went to church this morning and the sermon touched on idolatry and I thought, am I making an idol out of social media?

It’s an interesting question to consider even if you don’t believe in God.

For me, it put things in perspective. Yes, it’s nice to have the likes, but more than that, I want to engage and connect with others.

And that means I have to talk about myself and my work.

I can do this.

I’m off to eat more frozen blueberries while I figure out how to put together a carousel for Insta…

Speak soon xx