The Truth Behind "The Pretty" |Charlottesville Virginia Wedding Photographer Sarah houston Photography

There's this ongoing struggle with creatives, you see we are all so busy perfecting and living the life of "pretty" that we are loosing sight of the reality. The truth is...we all don't have our lives "together". We can put on this show that makes everyone believe that our houses are clean and tidy, that our kids are angels, that our pets are always Instagram ready and that our marriage is like a Nicolas Sparks novel. 

I want to be honest, like completely. So if you don't want your bubble to burst...don't read on.

First let me tell you...my house-it's a wreck 95% of the time. The other 5% it's only clean because I am trying to sell my house and my husband got fed up at looking at the tornado so he cleans it. My daughter's room is a hot mess and quite frankly it needs a "hard hat required" sign because it looks like it exploded. This is real life people....I work a 9-5 (sometimes 6) during the week and when I get home-the last thing I want to do is play Holly Homemaker. I literally want to crawl into my bed and sleep...so this is why you will never see a picture of my house on social media, because it is a disaster. (& there's a coffee cup always glued to my hand!)

My child....lord knows I love her to death, but for some reason only known to God-her face is always dirty with something and her hair is always a wreck. Like honestly...girlfriend is a hot mess and sometimes I swear people think she is a homeless child. I'm going to be real here and say: She's 6, she doesn't care about her hair right now or the fact her face has Oreo cookie on it. She likes to play and eat candy, she doesn't care about looking "pretty" or "perfect" because she is a CHILD. I am not going to post these amazing photos of her in a flower crown holding a baby dear...because that is not her. She is silly and a mess in her own unique way. I love her to pieces...Oreo face and knotted hair.

Trying to balance it all, while maintaining a perfect social media presence is downright exhausting. Every time I post a "pretty picture" on social media or write about how amazing everything is....I feel that sinking feeling of-I'm contributing to a lie. This lie that is poisoning the minds of so many creatives and making them think that they are failing because their life is falling apart behind the scenes. Not one of us has it all together, if they tell you they do...they are lying. NO ONE is perfect, the only one who is-is God & last time I checked none of the industry "leaders" are God. They all make and have made mistakes-whether you've seen it or heard it is a different story. Don't let their highlight reel fool you...they are human just like you and I. They started at the bottom too....

I want to challenge you to be real, to be honest and to embrace the imperfect life that you have. Instead of always believing in the "pretty", be okay with the mess. Show you are human, be real with yourself and others. We all need to know that people we look up to have the same struggles we do, that they fall down and get back up too...that they aren't always so "put together" I mean come on-Katelyn James HAS to have bad hair days too, Mary Marantz HAS to wear sweat pants at some point and rock a messy bun....because they are human just like you and me. They shop at Target, they doubt their ability as an artist & they get nervous shooting weddings too. 

So please...do yourself a favor and be real. Be honest. Be true to who you are. There is no point burning yourself out chasing a dream that isn't even real...because sometimes your life is going to be a mess & your child is going to draw on themselves with a permanent marker and look like they have prison tattoos && that's OK, because that's REAL LIFE.

Embrace it, love it and laugh along with it....because it's too short to just live in a lie.

xoxo

Sarah