Ordinary Days | Real life is spills, stray socks

Everyone knows most of the photos on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest are cleaned-up versions of real life. Most of us put on our brightest smiles, show the best looking and cleanest corners of our homes, post photos of our kids at their most charming and well-behaved. We’ve all grown accustomed to seeing folks perched on mountaintops in perfect yoga poses, magazine-worthy living rooms decorated beautifully for every season, families dressed in spotless linen with white sand beaches and pink sunset skies.

There’s nothing wrong with these photos, but what I like best are the other sides of life: the mishaps, the spills, the “Oops” moments caught on camera. I love it when people are willing to show others what their real life looks like — bumps, tears, messes and all. It offers a small moment of grace: “Ah, someone else’s life is as imperfect as mine.”

I visited a friend the other day at her house. This friend is stylish and gorgeous and her house is the same way — a cozy little haven of style and beauty. We’d been standing in her dining room talking for at least 20 minutes when she glanced at the dining table and started laughing. There in the center of her beautiful table, laid with pretty plates and candlesticks, was one of her husband’s athletic socks. Clean or dirty, who knew? She laughed and apologized, but I loved it. It was like a little nugget of true reality in the midst of something seemingly perfect. All beauty has a rough side and everything rough has beauty — even if it’s buried down deep. That sock made me love her and her sock-wearing husband even more.

The next time a friend stops by your house unexpectedly, or even if you have a formal gathering of people in your home, don’t fret if something is left out of place or isn’t perfect. Instead of offending guests, it will likely make your friends feel more at home, like they aren’t the only ones with a life that isn’t magazine-worthy. 

Come to think of it, maybe if Pinterest, Instagram and all the glossy magazines would show us those “Oops!” moments, the rest of us would feel a little more normal! Here’s to the spills, messes, bumps and crumbs of real life — and yes, even a few stray socks.

I’d love to connect! Email me at LaurenKDenton@gmail.com, find me on Twitter @LaurenKDenton, or visit my blog at laurenkdentonbooks.wordpress.com.