You Totally Missed It

A picture is worth one thousand words.

I’ve used this saying before because sometimes words just don’t do a moment justice.  A memory captured on camera that words could never express.  The joy on a father's face as he carries his newborn baby to meet the rest of the family.  A child grinning from ear to ear because they just hit their first home run.  A child sitting all alone because no one wants to play with him at recess. There are so many emotions that can be caught on camera. And then there are some emotions you will never see. 

I for one love to capture everything, literally everything, on film. 

BUT... there is another saying.  Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see.  I can attest to this over the past several years.  What you hear can be so far from the truth.  What you see can also be deceiving.  We can make things appear as we want them to. We can twist them into whatever we want to make our story seem like the truth. Right?  We can make the good guy look bad or we can make the bad guy look like an angel.  I’ve seen it from both angles.  I’ve been a part of those stories.  It saddens me.  I've been guilty of this as well.  I'm preaching to myself as I write this so don't think I have never allowed such in my life.  I may appear to be perfect on social media...but I am FAR from it.  Can I get an amen from someone? 

Recently, someone quit talking to me because of a picture they saw on my social media account.  I had tried for weeks to reach out to this person but to no avail. I threw my hands up.  A friendship ended... just like that. 

Come to find out, they had totally missed it.  TOTALLY.  They finally responded to a text and mentioned a picture I had posted.  My blood pressure went through the roof.  I would type out a text and then delete it because I was so angry.  The enemy had gotten in this person's head and this particular person listened to those annoying little voices.  We all have at some point in our lives. 

Because pictures don’t show everything.  I am an adult... I smile for ALL pictures.  If I am hurt or sad... I don’t frown when someone wants to take a picture of me.  I don’t know many, if any, adults that would do that.  It would be silly.  A toddler... maybe... an adult... NOT so much. 

I told this person that before they jumped to conclusions, they needed to know more.  They never reached out to me to ask questions.  They just assumed.  And we all know what that does.  The response I received from this person in four words, “pictures speak pretty clearly.”

To everyone reading this, that is so far from the truth.  That’s how we end up hurt and angry.  Or jealous and bitter.  Especially when it comes to social media.  

Last summer, I snapped a picture of my little boy as we were sailing across the beautiful, turquoise waters near Cancun.  Color that my camera couldn’t even capture.  It was a picture perfect moment.  His sun kissed face.  His big brown eyes starring across the ocean.  His beautiful golden locks blowing in the wind.  But behind that picture... 

Just an hour before, as people watched us playing and laughing and smiling... cutting up as most families do on vacation... in the midst of it all... there was a gut wrenching moment for me and my son.

We were playing in the crystal clear water near the Island of Mejeres.  Water you could see through for miles.  My son was watching a dad with his son.  Laughing.  Being goofy. My little boy looked at me and said, “I wish I had a dad.”  What?  Where did that come from?  Weren’t we experiencing the trip of a lifetime?   We were laughing.  Smiling. Enjoying each other.  Then those words were like a knife through my heart... I had to turn away and fight back tears.  My heart broke.  Physical heartache and a moment, as a mom, I will never forget.  

Looking at this picture...you would never guess the heartache I was feeling at this very moment.  It's a picture perfect moment...right?

But you know what... I guarantee you that no one who saw us that day would have ever guessed my little boy was hurting.  They were probably thinking that we were such an incredibly happy family.  

Our pictures... guess what?  Never showed heartache.  They never showed what my mama heart felt after my son spoke those words to me.  

Our pictures captured “perfect” moments and those “perfect” moments were shared on social media.

Please, remember,  believe none of what you hear... and half of what you see. 

Not everything you see speaks so clearly.