The beauty of normalcy

+JMJ+

If you were to get on Facebook right now you would notice a common trend.  People have uploaded pictures, statuses, and other posts that make their lives seem almost unbelievably perfect and put together. They have tons of friends, go on awesome trips, eat delicious looking food, and this small snapshot of their lives gives the impression their life is something to be striven for. 

I am also guilty of this. Who wants to feel like their life is actually just average? What is an average life? Is having an average life so bad?

In my opinion, this 'perfect life' facebook trend is rooted in something deeper. It is rooted in the pressure of trying to prove oneself.

Throughout my school years and into post-grad life I have noticed this constant pressure to 'do something' with my life. Not just to get an education and find a career, but to do something different and to be the best. This expectation to be more than an average person with an average life started in high school. It was never really said, but there was a very tangible sense of competition to be the best in the class and to earn the highest scholarships and to work towards a prestigious career. Normalcy was somewhat looked down upon.

Fast forwarding to college and nearing graduation, this pressure to do something different and significant with my life was present once again, but unlike my high school self, I didn't care as much about what others expected of me. My worldview had changed from caring about what others thought to caring about what I felt called to do. I even found telling people that I was moving to Rome hard because my goal was not to be 'impressive'.

Now, back to Facebook. I do not think Facebook created this pressure to prove ourselves, but rather it illustrates a common mindset in our society, a mindset that says we must be better than the norm. But normalcy is quite beautiful. Living a life that we feel called to allows us to enjoy our lives and not despair when we see the 'epicness' of others.

My life in Rome is pretty darn normal and I appreciate that. I wake up, go to class, run errands, cook dinner and pray. It just happens that I am in a historic city that people are familiar with versus my old Kentucky home. So embrace normalcy because in reality the day to day activities of life, no matter where you are, are quite normal.