Instagram vs Reality: The Truth About Social Media and Summer Pressure
The lie your feed is telling you about summer
Hi friends,
I opened Instagram yesterday and within 30 seconds saw:
A family's "spontaneous" beach picnic (complete with matching outfits)
Someone's 5am workout routine with the caption "Summer body loading!"
A mom's elaborate sensory bin activities with her toddler
A perfectly organized garage sale haul arranged by color
My first thought? "I should be doing more."
My second thought? "Wait—this is exactly what we talked about last week."
Here's what's really happening behind those squares:
The beach picnic? Took 2 hours to set up, the kids melted down twice, and they left after 20 minutes because of bugs.
The 5am workout? She's been consistent for exactly 4 days and will burn out by next week.
The sensory bins? Made while the older kids watched screens for 3 hours straight.
The garage sale haul? Represents stress-shopping to avoid dealing with a difficult conversation with her partner.
I know this because these are real stories from real women I work with.
The Summer Highlight Reel Effect
Social media doesn't show you:
The 47 photos it took to get that "candid" family shot
The credit card debt from trying to keep up with everyone's adventures
The exhaustion from constantly documenting instead of living
The fights that happened right before the "perfect day" post
The anxiety of having nothing "post-worthy" to share
But here's what your brain does: It compares your behind-the-scenes to everyone else's highlight reel. Every. Single. Time.
Your messy Tuesday morning gets measured against someone's carefully curated "Summer morning routine ✨"
Your kids' complaints about being bored get compared to the family whose children apparently never stop saying "This is the BEST DAY EVER!"
The Real Cost of Comparison
When we're constantly measuring our reality against curated content, we:
Miss the genuine joy in our own imperfect moments
Spend money we don't have trying to recreate someone else's experience
Feel inadequate about choices that actually serve our family well
Lose trust in our own instincts about what we need
Your nervous system can't tell the difference between real social comparison and digital comparison. It just knows you're not measuring up, and it responds with stress, anxiety, and that familiar feeling of "not enough."
Let's Get Real About Social Media
Vote and then share in the comments: What's one "behind the scenes" reality that your social media doesn't show?
Remember: The most authentic life is the one where you stop performing and start living.
Talk to you soon,
Mary
