Playing it Cool

A lot of people like to play it cool when it comes to their online personas. The nature of social media makes it all too enticing to enhance aspects of our lives that may be lacking or imperfect. I wonder, how many people fall prey to comparing themselves to others because of Facebook?

Going on Facebook for any length of time used to make me really depressed afterwards. There I was, looking at people’s darling kids and ever in-love spouses, their exotic vacations and fancy dinners out. In comparison, I felt very . . . “blah.” Sure, there are probably people who love every second of their radical lives, but I bet it’s not as common as Facebook would have me believe.

It’s important to me to be authentic on the web and to be perceived as authentic by my readers. I did my time in the prison that is pretentiousness, trying to be someone I was not and hoping no one would find out that I was not impervious to life’s setbacks and annoyances. It’s exhausting!

Even more exhausting is comparing oneself to others. Go on Facebook, and just try to measure up! When so many people are presenting their lives as flawless, you can’t win. If that’s not depressing, I don’t know what is.

I can’t bear to look at my “feed” on Facebook because I am just too prone to indulge in self-loathing as I look at all the wonderful things that happen to other people. I’m kind of the same way on the internet as I am in “real life” – I mind my own business and try not to worry too much about what others might think of me. I believe that formula is my key to authenticity right now.

My Weekend and Mini Goals for the Week

I found today’s daily prompt on WordPress.com to be far too ambitious for a lazy Sunday, so instead I’m taking it easy and breezy today. Ironically, considering my last post, I am looking forward to a new episode of 60 Minutes this evening. I have the music tastes of a forty-something dude,and I’m pretty sure not a lot of people my age look forward to 60 Minute in the salivating way that I do.

Almost TV Fasting

I haven’t been watching a lot of TV lately. It’s not like I’m intentionally avoiding it. It’s just that whenever I even try to channel surf, which is usually for a couple of hours on the weekend, I get bored really quickly.

Nothing good is on TV right now other than Catfish: The TV Show, some educational shows, my usual crime-story news magazines like Dateline and 48 Hours Mystery, and Breaking Bad

Week One Update and Death Chair

Remember how teachers always said not to lean back on the hind two legs of your chair? I never did that when I was in school, but I started doing it while blogging because i try to reach things on my nightstand behind me without getting out of my chair. Now I have totally compromised the structure of the chair by doing this;

Daily Prompt: The Full Moon

Whoever comes up with these daily prompts clearly relishes making me think too hard about hypothetical questions. I wish they would appreciate that I have a DVD of The Greatest Speeches of All-Time that’s due back at the library tomorrow, so I have to watch it in its entirety before bedtime. However I must get a quick blog in, or I just won’t feel right about going to bed having not written something today:

What’s in a Name?

I’ve begun going by my full name at work rather than the nickname by which most people have referred to me for my entire life.

Now no one mistakenly calls me “Danny,” “Andy,” or “Amy.” My full name is distinctive enough that most customers calling in to our customer service department can easily understand the name through the phone and remember it too. It can be very annoying to have people call you the wrong name all day long!

I’m glad to be taking advantage of my unique name. I feel like going by my full name is part and parcel with the “new” me. My name has a nice ring to it and just rolls off my tongue, and it makes me feel more business-like and sophisticated at work.

Don’t worry- I’m not getting super militant about it and insisting that everyone refer to me by my given name. I just have developed a preference for it and will be referring to myself as such on many more occasions>

Money and Virtue

Some financial facts about me:

1. I have been the sole proprietress of my finances since the age of 19, when I first started living on my own.
2. I was unwise about credit at that time in my life, and until recently, I couldn’t get approved for a credit card anywhere.

Like Riding a Bicycle

Today was my second day back at work, and I couldn’t feel better about it. Thank you to all the great people in my life who were thinking of me and wishing me the best – I think it worked. Maybe I really overestimated the nosiness of people, but no one’s inquired as to why I was out so long.

Daily Prompt: Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

Think of your blog as a mirror: what does it reveal? Consider your blog name, theme choice, design, bio, posts… what does every element tell you about yourself?

I had a lot of fun responding to today’s prompt, so hopefully you will enjoy seeing exactly what I think my blog says about me:

Happy Things

Yesterday I did a post on the foods that make me happy, so why not continue with the theme? In light of my returning to work at my office job tomorrow (my supervisor told me over the phone today, “Welcome back to the chaos!”), I would rather focus on the happy than the worrisome. Thankfully, the pit of anxiety in my stomach has shrunken because I spent the last twenty minutes making a concerted effort to relax courtesy of some deep breathing and mindfulness practice. Now that my mind is clear, I’m ready to blog about the fashion and beauty items that are making me happy today!