I am supposed to be writing about the next stop in our trip but something I just read really has got me thinking and not a new thought but something I needed to get down and share.

Many of my friends have heard me talk about social meeting and how I feel it exasperates the sadness and loneliness people might feel, or even that sense of failure and under-achievement most of us deal with during a crisis of confidence. I am sure you all have that one friend who is posting all the wonderful photos of happy relationships, beautiful vacation shots (yes I know I just was doing that) and nice homes and cottages, etc. And while you don’t begrudge your friends of anything, does it sometimes feel like you are the only one with struggles because you have forgotten that most people are posting only the best aspects of their every day.

Well the story that inspired me to stop and write this post is about Madison Holleran (you can read it here). It is about a girl whose life on Instagram is nothing like what she is living or thinks she is. Now this isn’t a bashing of social media but really gets one thinking about the generations that are growing up with it and just how challenging life in a social spotlight can be.

To quote the author, “Everyone presents an edited version of life on social media.” And this really is a new phenomenon the author reminds us. Before phones it was the mail and before the Internet we had just the phone. The article sites a scary stat, especially if 74% of girls are actually doing it, “nearly 74 percent of girls agreed that other girls tried to make themselves look “cooler than they are” on social networking sites.” I can’t imagine how challenging it is to grow up with these added pressures.

Now this post might not really have a point, like I said, I am not bashing social media, I love being able to connect with old friends, make new ones. Maybe I am just trying to warn young people and their parents, read Madison’s story, share it with your children, remind them that they are not alone, they are not the only ones who struggle, even though all they see on their screens are happy, filtered faces.