www.ohsheglows.com
The Interwebs of Jealousy.
The more active you become online the more overwhelming it can become. I look at Pinterest and the world of blogs and it sure seems like there’s a huge movement of women and men taking it upon themselves to be amazing.
Let’s take just one topic, for instance: FOOD
“Talented Girl’s” evening…
Organic, home-grown, or farmers-market-bought produce… fresh salads, home-made salad dressing… and for dessert she grinds up those almonds herself to make that almond butter and drizzle in dark chocolate made from local, small-farm ingredients. Oh, and, side-note, when she purchased the block of chocolate, she also somehow helped save starving children in Guatemala. She took crisp-focus pictures from multiple angles at every step of the process and put it all on Pinterest, Tweeted it, posted it on her Blog, and on Instagram too – ending with a beautiful picture of beautiful kids in a beautiful backyard under homemade bunting.
Oh, the foodporn! Oh, the earth-helping, child-saving glory!!
Delicious. Real food. Made from scratch with no processed ingredients. I am beyond jealous. Not only do I WANT the food in my mouth but I also want to have made it, grown it, taken such pretty pictures of my creation that others pin it repeatedly, and written eloquently about it all so someone else (NOT ME) could be jealous.
well…
I guess I could take pictures of the Trader Joe’s Orange Chicken we ate last night. I could take a picture as I pull it out of the TJs freezer it grew in. I could talk about how the cold bag kept my ice cream from melting in the car. I could take extreme close-ups with my phone as I rip open the bag with my bare hands and each little chunk of beige chicken cascades onto the cookie sheet.
I could write about my children and how they most enjoy jumping up and slapping their tiny butts during dinner, rather than posing under homemade chevron-covered flags and bunting…. the four-year-old yelling things like, “Oh, Sexy Boy!!” “Boooty!” (#motheroftheyear)
But, that’s only impressive to a select group of people.
**********
How does a regular person compete with all the genius going on online? Because it is in EVERY area of life. It is organization, business savvy, branding, art, children, spirituality, fitness, and everything else anyone can become a genius at.
Before all of this, we each lived with the nagging thought that we might not be the “best.” I might not be good enough. We had an inkling that there was probably someone smarter and better out there doing what we try to do.
But Now… Now, we can find concrete evidence of our mediocrity within minutes.
Right now, I literally have 10 tabs open in my browser of blogs and things I think are awesome.
Here’s some:
http://sarahbessey.com/
http://squeeinc.com/
http://ohsheglows.com/
http://eloranicole.com/
http://catalogliving.net/
http://www.aholyexperience.com/
http://www.hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/
http://www.sevenly.org
And that’s just to name a few. I am overwhelmed by the giftedness of the human race. People want to help each other. People write about what matters to them. People create, laugh, eat, strategize, build, write and share. People are amazing, brave & creative.
And
I
am
jealous.
Not just a little
a lot.
Wrestling with jealousy is like hitting yourself in the face and expecting to feel so much better.
I do not feel better. I see your brilliance and I feel small.
So, how do I deal with it?
I could drink and laugh and fall asleep… which is tempting but overdone. OR (and this is a challenging OR)
When I fall into this whirlwind of my needs and desire, I could ask them hard questions like I know I should…
Why am I jealous? What am I missing or falsely believing…
Because if the things I wrote and created were LIKED by more people, then would I feel like my life was well-spent?
Because I am unsure?
Because I want to make a BIG difference in people’s lives?
Because I hope my life helps people see God?
Because what is the point of working or striving or caring unless it reaches lots of people?
Because there is a heat that drives me to write and create but it’s not the same if no one knows I’m doing it?
Because I want to connect?
And now, I must FACE THE FEARS…
The scary things chase me and I run.
Must. Turn around. And face the scary things. Face them down. Call them out of the darkness and into the light.
MONSTER: So, what if you write and no one ever cares? If no one reads your writings, was it worth leaving your kids for the evening? … Worth their questions of, “Why can’t you just stay home? Can’t you work next to me here? Don’t leave me!”
When I face a monster, the hero in me must stand up….
HERO: Listen, can you believe in a God who values the sparrow no human ever sees or cares about? And let it be enough for you? Can you live your life – passionately and honestly – as an offering to your Creator, no matter who else ever sees? Can you listen to your passions and act?
Can I be God’s sparrow?
Building nests.
Chirping to myself and the air
Flying! A miracle no one may ever see
But a miracle meant for me and my Creator.
Flying with my God…
My, God! How I missed it!
I am flying. And I’m missing the miracle. When you are FLYING, who cares if anyone else sees!?!
It is incredibly challenging to enjoy the genius of others and still allow our own lives to matter – for a creator and artist, especially. But flying is flying and I cannot let myself or anyone who happens upon this little collection of words to waste another day. At the end of this era of my life, when I am older and my abilities have changed, I never want to look back and remember how wasted my wings were.
It all matters. Everything we create, everything we do, every word we say to ourselves and another human being …. the sparrow’s morning flight and mine.
Dear Friend! Whatever is holding you back, the idea that lots of other people are already doing what you might want to be doing… who cares? No bird sees others up in the sky and thinks, “Oh well, someone got there first.” Other birds flying do not diminish your own miracle.
If you want to fly, FLY. There is room in the sky.
-Nicole
For more on motivation, community, inspiration, jealousy, struggles — all the good stuff that goes along with creating and dreaming.
Check out these previous posts…
A Cold Cup of Water
Create for the One
Girl in the Windbox
