I have been writing this blog for almost two years…it has become a part of our lives…my daily routine.
My topics are varied….very varied…sometimes I don’t even know what my post for the day will be until an hour or two before my preferred publishing time.
I write about what I have read, the outfits I wear, the gadgets I find…but there are sometimes when I give you all a glimpse into our life.
And if you follow me on Instagram, you will get occasional peeks at what is happening day to day.
There has been a lot of chatter around blogs and social media lately about how many bloggers and social media accounts present a way too perfect, almost unattainable life…images of perfect people living perfect lives, eating perfectly styled food in perfect houses.
And I agree…there seems to be so many of them now….everything perfectly positioned in a way that us mere mortals can never hope to do.
Now I will admit that my social media feeds do have some of these sorts of accounts…I use them to gain some inspiration and keep a finger on what the perfect “trend” is.
But I never want to “be” like that…I prefer colour…chaos…life in all it’s facets!
I want to be real…but I have to balance that with being safe online.
Privacy is a real quandary when having a presence online…especially as a blogger writing about, well, themselves…there is the choice of keeping it real or keeping everyone from getting too close.
It is something I weigh up every time I post an image or write about something more personal.
I do feel very comfortable sharing our health issues as I feel it might helpful to others travelling a similar road, albeit a liver transplant, thyroid issues or food allergies/intolerances.
Surprisingly, I also enjoy planning and taking outfit shots…something I thought I would never do…and you will occasionally see my husband appear too.
If you are on Instagram, you will also see plenty of images of our furkids…cairns are just too cute not to share!
Nothing is staged when it comes to them…see exhibit A…
But you won’t be seeing images of our house…we certainly don’t live in a beautifully designed interior to die for…but we don’t live in a hovel either!
It’s our home…our haven…
You won’t see pictures of around where we live…I just don’t want to let people that far into our life.
You won’t see perfectly shot outfit images either…no perfect meals, no perfect flat lays, no perfect outfit shots…just how I see things.
I will let you into a secret…most of my outfit shots I take myself, running between camera and posing, trying not to fall over.
I am not a model in any sense of the word…I am short, have big front teeth, a curvy body and often frizzy hair.
But what you see on screen is me…just an average 40 something year old with a penchant for vintage.
What the “perfect” social media feeds have taught me, is how to find what I like, what pleases my eye…what interests me.
Not that there were ever any blurred, dark, bland photos here…but I now do have a definite standard about what I do post….guess you could call it my Zinc Moon style!
I am honoured that so many of you take the time to read and follow Zinc Moon…I really appreciate all your lovely comments and likes.
I hope I can keep things real enough for you all!
Do you use social media or blog? How do you balance the want to share your adventures with a concern of privacy issues?
I love the “real” Sarah you project online. Variety is the spice of life, and I love reading your blog because it is a “snapshot” of modern life and all the things I love. Tea, dogs, gadgets, books. We are all multifaceted and imperfect, that’s what makes us interesting!
I love your blog. Don’t blame you at all for wanting to keep a little piece of your life private.
I so love this! It’s a hard thing to remain ‘real’ sometimes in the blogging world and at the same time also keep some things private..I think you do a great job at ‘keepin it real’
I agree wholeheartedly Sarah! I like to look at the ‘perfect’ stuff sometimes, but I would rather see the interesting and creative in all it’s mess. That shawl is lovely on you by the way, a difficult colour to wear, but it looks amazing on you.
I think things should be kept private, I am not at all into the ‘spill your guts’ blogs which go into every little detail about all kinds of stuff.
My kids are rarely in my posts or social media because I feel that that is our life not an online life to be shared. Otherwise it must feel like you are starring in a reality show!
You made me smile with the taking photos of yourself insight because that is exactly what I do and end up being too slow and only getting half my head/body in shot!!
The way you describe taking your photos is exactly how I take mine (but yours are much better). I must say, I always enjoy your little furkids on instagram – they are WAY too cute not to share. I have pulled back on sharing photos of my kids for the reasons you have shared. It can be a tricky balance.
Great post, Sarah! I very much agree. The bulk of social media use nowadays seems to be for promoting the perfect, the staged, the preened, the (often) just plain unrealistic. I think people have confused what it is to take a good photo with the need to photoshop their lives. Life can be messy and everyone should let that show! To some extent, because I also agree with your point about only letting people in so far. I have never shared the suburb I live in and I don’t even use my boyfriend’s name that often, simply because sometimes I just don’t want to share that information. It can be a bit tricky to manage but I think I’ve got a good balance going on at the moment. Loved your photos too, by the way!