Tuesday, July 08, 2014

Day 8 - What Really Happened

My friend Madhu has taken the 100 Happy Days challenge on her blog - and she's started writing about what made her happy that day. Yeah, yeah, old stuff, you're thinking.  But she has got a USP, according to me.  Along with what happened, she's also writing about "What Really Happened."

Take a look at this to see what I mean.

One of my pet peeves is what people put up on social media.

All those lovely little moments we put up for the world to see are a few sparkling drops distilled and filtered from the huge cups of dirty water that our lives are all about.

Behind pics of idyllic beach holidays there might be lost luggage, missed connections, mosquito bites, skin-chafing sand, family flare-ups and indigestion.  Behind pics of cherubic babies are sleepless nights, endless diaper changes, post-partum blues.  Behind pictures of couples in love there possibly is mudslinging, name-calling, jealousy, all-night-crying.

Similarly, behind every publication that I brightly announce on my blog, there is endless rewriting, editing, disappointment, frustration, rejection.  And behind every aww-invoking incident of Puttachi that I write about, there are tantrums, and worries, and negotiating, and balancing...

The only thing we see about other people's lives are the bright, happy parts, and we feel miserable, wondering why our lives are not one big party.  So whenever we feel overwhelmed by looking at what seems like other people's good fortune, it'll do us good to remember that there is a "What really happened" story behind it. 

8 comments:

gowri said...

loved this post Shruti...this is also my pet peeve with social media...I have infact deactivated my facebook account because it just does not seem to be positive out there....thank you for Blog marathon....

Madhu said...

Thanks for mentioning my posts here Shruthi! Just when I was beginning to feel why did I ever start this series, the description of it in your words, just got me inspired again.

Srividhya G said...

A very true statement. We just see one side of everything.

Sanjay said...

What happened
Sanjay smiling on reading the post, left a comment, and went back to the grind getting super-productive in the rest of the morning

What really happened
He kept browsing around going on through other stuff on the net and suddenly found out its already lunch time and aarrggh... ok I better make what happened really happen ;)

Anitha said...

So true Shruthi .... love your posts ...

austere said...

pretty smart, Shruti and Madhu.
will follow Madhu's posts on this series.

Chitra said...

Hmmm... I'd rather "share" those distilled water drops than the huge buckets(or tanks) of dirty water. However, my intention is to spread the joy that I am experiencing and not to make other people jealous of my lifestyle. Comparisons are common but the most contented people always derive happiness from other people's happy posts. My two cents!

Shruthi said...

Thank you all!

Madhu, keep at it! Don't stress too much, though - just keep it simple, like you already are :)

Chitra, "most contented people" that's the keyword. For every photo of a new job on fb, there is someone stuck in a dead end job. for every holiday pic, there's someone who is craving a holiday, but isn't able to go for whatever reason. For every baby bump pic is a couple who is trying hard to conceive and not succeeding. Sharing your joy is one thing - overloading fb with your joy is entirely another thing - and in my opinion, it is a crime against humanity :D

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