Get Real, Get Noticed

One week ago, I created a post on my personal Facebook page about recently getting divorced. I had just received a final notice (via email!) the day before, and it felt important to let my tribe of friends, family, and fans know about it. I hadn't publicly shared anything about my dissolving 18-year marriage, so I didn't really know when or how to do it. Changing my status from Married to Divorced seemed insufficient.

To be honest, I wrote the status and posted it on a Saturday night, thinking (and hoping) that it would get lost in the busyness of the weekend.

I was wrong.

Within a week, my humble ditty was viewed over 2,300 times, which was far more than anything else I had ever posted. It may have been due to my peeps wanting to send me online condolences, and it may have been due to the crazy-sexy-freedom dance that I tagged along with it. (I couldn't help it; a Divorce Dance was inside of me that was begging to be shimmied out.) But, I like to believe that it's popularity stemmed from the fact that we are all so freakin' sick of everyone being perfect all of the time. Wherever you turn, it seems like everyone has their act together and every business is killing it. Every flaw is airbrushed out. Books are cooked to look better than they are. On Facebook Fantasy Island, smiles abound and troubles are few. Like Lake Wobegon in my great home state of Minnesota, it seems like all of the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average.

With all of this pseudo-perfection floating about, I believe that people are craving REAL. We are all struggling with something (or just got out of struggling or will be struggling soon), our jobs have good days and bad days, and all we really want to do is figure out a way to live happily and healthfully.