Pope Benedict recently urged the Faithful to be wary of allowing cyber friends to replace real life friends. I had to sit up straight at that because, believe it or not, it is something I have to be cautious of. I have a horde of friends here in the real world that I adore, sure they drive me crazy at times, but I do adore them and they are surprisingly tolerant of my idiosyncracies. However, I have had the privilege of “meeting” so many people on YouTube from all over the globe who make it appear that their sole purpose in life is to leave me kind comments and say amazingly awesome things about me and my family … I mean, come on, that’s so hard to resist. People have gone so far as to make entire videos about my sheer awesomeness. My real friends have their own lives, their own children and sure, they are supportive and leave kind comments on my Facebook, but I am NOT their sole priority. And in reality, I’m not anyone’s on YouTube but the tempting aspect of YT is that you can begin to believe you are! That’s the beauty of YouTube. You can be made to feel as though you are priceless, irreplaceable, remarkable, gorgeous, amazing, and so much more. People tell you your life is so incredibly interesting that you should have a TV show. And while it does send a warm fuzzy feeling, it can go to your head, that is until your best friend from your childhood snaps you back to earth with the following comment, “Sure, Suzs, your shiit don’t stink!”
Fantastic. Wonderful. But it’s the truth. Youtube friends see the best of the best. They don’t see me at my worst when I’m screaming so loud I nearly faint, or when I’m traipsing through the grocery store in my pajamas and haven’t even brushed my teeth. They don’t see the kids beating each other or fighting or whatever other hot messes occur during the typical day. What got me to thinking even more was a PM I received from a mom who had 3 children and she was just at the breaking point. She couldn’t believe I was able to manage 11 kids and all our activities and still be happy and joyous. She was distraught at her “failure” as a mom. I stopped her in her tracks. Nothing you see on Youtube is real. Nothing you see on TV is real. Typically nothing you see in real life is real. Do not judge the inside of your family by the outside of another. I’ve been saying this for years, but it seemed extraordinarily poignant at this very moment. We do have a blast, we do have a penchant for the extreme, but we also befall your typical daily drones … we fight, we yell. In other words we fail too. We are only human, hence we are sinners.
Have a very blessed Holy Week and a Joyous Easter!! xoxoxox
I have been watching videos on youtube for a few years now and that is exactly what I learned very early that what you see is not true. It is true in the sense that in exactly that moment everything was good and everybody were happy. I also realized that myself when I started to make videos that I cut out the parts where I change my tone of voice to my son. That is nothing I want to show the world, that is not something the world needs to see. These videos are for me something I will be able to watch again in a few years and then I don’t want to see myself screaming my head of or him screaming at me. That is not the memories I want to keep. We have to be realistic when it comes to youtube and that we only get to see the tip of the iceberg. But I do love your videos because it sometimes helps to put a smile on my face when I have had a rough day. So thank you for sharing your happy moments with us.
I LOL’d … no kidding. I make these vids for us and family FIRST and I so do not want to remember me going psycho or the kids killing each other!! I don’t want to watch a trainwreck!!! =0 I equally enjoy your videos!!!!
I totally hear you on this one! Online friends typically don’t get to see you at your worst. You only let them see what you want them to see and it usually isn’t the real you. There is no accountability in that. You need real life friends to call you on your crap and see how your children are behaving and draw your attention to areas in your life you aren’t directing enough energy towards.
We are supposed to be in relationship with others. Hanging out behind a computer screen does not mean you are in relationship. You aren’t inviting people into your space if they are never physically there with you. Let’s just say you need to be uncomfortable in order to change and grow. If you’re always comfortable then you’re not going to develop yourself. You need real life people to make you uncomfortable and help you grow as a person. You need to be looking outside of yourself and outside of your computer for opportunities to have relationships and not be told that you’re perfect cause you know your life isn’t at all what you portray on that screen.
I’m going to stop not cause I can really get going on the topic of being in relationship with people. Maybe it’s the pastor’s wife in me as I’m always trying to encourage people to connect and grow. I see far to many people get caught up in the online world and need to come back to reality.
AGREED!! I didn’t know your hubby was a pastor!!! That’s wonderful!! Wishing ya’ll a very very VERY Blessed and Joyous Easter!!!! xoxoxox
Wow your such a wonderful person for opening your heart and telling us whats what. I loved reading this. Take care 🙂
thanks Carl!!! =0 I love Youtube, but I love real life more!!! =0
This was great and I just finished your book. It was difficult to read, but it was what I needed. God Bless you, thank you so much!
This is so true. Online life should never take the place of real life. However, I would just like to add that for those unfortunates who have difficulty making friends in real life, whether through shyness, illness, anxiety or some other reason, online friends can be a lifesaver.
Anyway, I love watching your videos. They never fail to put a smile on my face. And I agree, we all have moments in our daily life we aren’t proud of. These aren’t the moments we want to broadcast to the world.
Absolutely … I’m making these vids primarily for us and I would prefer to forget the fighting and yelling and stuff!! =0 Remember it as perfection!!! I love my online friends too, it’s nice to hear wonderful things every now and then, you know??? Thanks for commenting here!!!