The Total Picture

I love blogs. I love writing my own blog as much as I love reading other people's blogs. One thing that always gets me thinking is the different pictures of people's homes that they post on their blog. Most often, the photos show their home in its absolute best light, in its most perfect state. The photo in one particular blog I've started reading look like they came out of the latest Anthropologie catalog. Everything in the house is beautiful and colorful and sweet. The blogger's outfits are to die for - adorable dresses, sweet little shoes, perfect hair all the time. And while they make for a beautiful blog and fill me with light-hearted thoughts of a happy, artsy family living their happy, picturesque life, I can't help thinking...is this the TOTAL picture? What I want to know is, what's on the other side of the lens, the side we can't see? And is the pretty perspective the reality? Is it even what people really want to see or simply just what we want to share? Is there something to be said for allowing people to see what we really live like? Are the invisible parts of the story board the more interesting parts? Personally, I love a pretty picture but I also love to see how people really are. The authentic is what draws me in. The pretty stuff is just that. Pretty. Stuff. But when you show people how you really are, then they really know. Who. You. Are. And isn't who you really are more interesting than what you look like?

What do I mean?

I could show you a picture of my sweet little front entrance, decorated for Halloween:


Or I could show you what my entryway REALLY looks like:



I could show you the pretty kitchen cabinets I have, all neatly organized:


Or I could show you my REAL cabinets, the ones without the glass that visitors don't usually see:


I could show you the pretty couch in my playroom:


Or I could show you what the playroom REALLY looks like:


I could offer you a sneak peek at the delicious beef stew I made for dinner, from scratch, that simmered all day:


Or I could show you what my youngest son REALLY ate for dinner:


Now, which set of photos makes you feel like you got the TOTAL picture?