I started out this morning reading a blog post on keeping perspective about what we have verses what we are made to feel we have to have. In the post the blogger gives us a tour of her kitchen and all of the overwhelming blessings it possess, even while not being the Better Homes kitchen of the year. It is absolutely true that the field of advertising is driven by the force of feminine dissatisfaction. Media creates and breeds it; it is rampant among us. We compare ourselves to each other via social media, we compare our menus, workout routines and homes via pinterest, and many of us compare our lives to those in magazines and television....to people and homes that aren't even real! It plants the seed of keeping up with the Jones, but there are no Jonse's, the Jone's are an advertising ploy invented to give us a standard to which we feel obligated to strive.
Having recently built a home, while simultaneously enduring an uncomfortable third pregnancy, I have spent more than my fair share of time on pinterest. It was an invaluable tool in keeping track of my ideas in a cohesive way, but I realized, the line is fine. Country Living and Pinterest should exist to inspire us, not to drive us toward guilt and discontent. They should encourage us to take positive action in our lives, not to while away time and resources wishing for something that we will never have, use, or be.
I had a bit of guilt after reading the afore mentioned blog post, because I do have subway tile back splash, the supposedly "it" thing that the blogger was made to feel less than for not having. Am I overly materialistic because I have an esthetically pleasing kitchen? But I didn't choose subway tile back splash because it was the "it" thing, I didn't even know that. I chose it because it was simple and clean and easy to wipe down, and that will still be true 20 years from not when there is a new "it" thing, and I will not want to remodel my kitchen. My home is beautiful, but it isn't beautiful because it's fancy or expensive, it's beautiful because I know my family deep down, and I chose things that were going to work for us in the long term, where we would be comfortable, and not feel pressured to change every time a new "it" rolls around, because we know who we are, and our space reflects that. I will love my home even when it's out of style, because I used media as a tool to inspire, rather than allowing it to become an agent of dissatisfaction. The bible talks about guarding our hearts, and there is so much more to guard from today than there ever has been before: fictional Jones's lurk around every corner sending the message, "You are not enough. You are not lovely, your home is lacking, if you just have this, you will be happy." We think we don't heed the message, but we hear it so often, bombarding us from every avenue. We are not invulnerable; we start to wonder, do I need that? Is happiness lurking just around the bend, behind the kitchen aid mixer and the kurig?
It's a fine line between inspiration and doubt. Surround yourself with things that inspire, ingest media that fills you with the truth, seek people who don't judge your worth by the trappings of your existence, those that motivate you toward greater perspective. Use facebook to connect, not compare. Allow yourself to be encouraged and inspired, but don't buy into discontent. Media is a great tool of empathy, connection, and learning, but it's a slippery slope. Guard your heart; walk the line.
