It’s been a week. Our city is hurting. Social media is weird. I love it, and I struggle with it.
It’s been the top story of most international news outlets, but if you haven’t seen we live in the little town that has been threatened, and hit, by the #carrfire. When I started social media, ‘foodgramming’ was a completely separate world from the real world. People didn’t want posts connected to reality. They didn’t want to know the faces behind the squares, or the stories. The first time I posted my face on instagram was after a tragedy, a terrorist attack.
I felt crazy, insensitive, disconnected posting my lunch when there was shock and pain and confusion over an event that shook our world. But I knew I had to post.
My purpose in my posting every day isn’t to get people to eat more expensive kale, or to buy the next new fancy ‘superfood’ product. NO. My purpose is to inspire people to live their best, to be their healthiest because then we have the most to give the world. The most years to love the world with who we are, and the most energy and vitality to love the world today.
For me personally, if I don’t feel my best, I’m less likely to love my kids well, but also less likely to stop for the person who needs help in Trader Joes, and less likely to find a way to get myself and my kids somewhere to help the relief effort after a fire. Now just hold on a second. When I say ‘if I don’t feel my best’, I’m not talking about needing to fill up my own well with a two hour ‘self care’ ritual of bubble baths, and writing, and a perfect superfood smoothie and meditation before I can love other people. I really believe in knowing our own needs and making sure we’re filled up and taken care of and I’m down with all the self care in it’s right place, but I also believe in sacrifice, and love being sacrificial and costing us sometimes. If you’ve followed our account for a while you know we’re pretty simple people. But we all do have to take care of ourselves, and through life I know if I eat healthy, clean, real food I have more energy, less sickness, and more ability to give out.
So my every day posting isn’t to try and show some fancy food life, or tell you how cool I am. If it was that, I just woudln’t be posting right now, I couldn’t’ do that. Also I mean, let’s be real… I’m failing if that’s my goal. Living plastic free makes me the least cool food blogger ever, all the instragrammable products are ruled out lol! But actually, I really want to help people step by step to be their best, so they can give their best, and love their best.
It’s felt weird, very weird to post food after our town has suffered such tragedy. Lives were lost. There is still danger to homes and people. People have been left with nothing. But in the middle of it I still post about our real food and healthy living journey. I still want to show you our lives and how we navigate health through it all.
And social media is a job to me, so I went back to it in the wake and midst of local tragedy. Most of our city went back to work today, not all the jobs feel like they’re directly impacting the city rebuidling, but I do believe that what I do counts and can inspire people locally and far away. It also provides money so that I can give into the efforts locally, and I’m grateful for a ‘job’ that gives me the flexibility to take my babes out and help more directly too.
So yes, bowls of salad and leftover pizza feel weird. But the pizza and the girls night were really important to process with local people. And in the midst of what’s happening locally, I still want to do what I believe in, and keep doing what I do to see people live their best, and be able to give their best.
If you want to donate to victims of the Carr fire or volunteer, HERE is a list of options for local donations, volunteer opportunities and financial gifts. If you want to give, thank you for loving our community from near and far. xx
