Our current culture is very materialistic. It's all about who has the fanciest car, who can afford the newest iPhone, who can afford to go to an ivy league school. It's extremely easy to get caught up in the mindset of society, and it's easy to find yourself comparing yourself to others. I know, I do it too. But, I'm also aware it's a bad habit. I'm aware that not everything is what it seems to be on social media, and the lady down the street that posts about how great her influencer-type lifestyle is going can't actually leave her home. Your life doesn't have to look flashy to matter. In fact, I'd venture to say that no one's life is flashy, and that everyone is going through something, even if it's small, at any period of time.

So, here's a glimpse into my imperfect life. For me, anxiety plays a big part of what I'm going through at any given moment. It's been the cause of tensions I have within my relationships, and it's been a weight that I've had to live with as I obsessively check my email and arrange my shoes in a neat order before I go to sleep at night.

That lady that lives down the street that acts like everything is cool when it's hard for her to leave her house? That's kind of like me too. I mean, I'm in no way agoraphobic, but I don't come clean about my own personal set of quirks on social media. Why? Because it doesn't fit into the rhythm of my feed. Because, the people that come across it might look at it and go "hm, this doesn't fit with what I want to see on my timeline." Maybe, they'll even unfollow me because I shattered the glass of a seemingly perfect existence. But, what if they looked at me being vulnerable, admitting my anxiety, saying it's okay to have it and that they're not alone, because so many people struggle with it and posted about their own personal set of circumstances? What if, instead of posting about only the good things, we really looked at ourselves and reflected the balance of our highs and lows on our feeds as they come and go in our real, authentic lives?

This is me sort of coming clean, by putting just a little bit of vulnerability into the world, which is courage. Yes, I have anxiety. Yes, it affects my everyday life, yes, sometimes I struggle to do the things I enjoy doing because I feel weighed down by it and I hurt those I love because of my inability to control my emotions in certain times of intense stress.

As a society, we should share our faults with one another. No one lives a perfect life like their Instagram feeds portray, and it is vulnerability and courage to share that with their friends and family.

I encourage you all to be courageous too and share your story with those you trust. You never know, we just might give social media a greater use.