---

I’ve been trying to write this poem for a few days now, which was supposed to be an entirely different poem. It’s something I’ve been sitting on the last little while that’s been bothering me.

We’re constantly pressed and/or expected to present our lives in a certain way online, even for the average joe. Everyone else is coming to social media with the best looking coffee, the best sounding stories, the best looking partners. Everything we see, due to the nature of how going viral works, is a projection of the already really good, or the really bad. Rarely is there an in between.

My wife has made the comment before that I am either black or white, and while I’ve written about it, I still have been thinking about it. And she’s on to something. In so many ways I am either here or not, too much or not enough, all in or ignoring it and there is rarely an in between. Though I fight for a middle ground in my life, there aren’t many places where that is true. However, that isn’t always the case.

I like to be right about things, like everyone. Being correct about a little fact, or about a prediction in a story brings us a sort of comfort. Like, maybe it makes us feel intelligent, or a little bit like a clairvoyant. On the other hand I hate being wrong. Like most folks, being wrong makes us feel stupid, like we don’t understand the world, and in a lot of ways, life has shaped us to become rooted in this duality.

Social media inspires us to be the “best” version of ourselves, or we won’t get recognition, attention, whatever the case may be. As an author, that translates to writing the absolute best work I can 100% of the time. “If it isn’t amazing, it’s not worth publishing.” — Sort of like someone taking a million selfies to find the right one, and then editing it to remove any semblance of imperfection before they post it to a gauntlet of online judgements. Or, like some of us, paralyzed in social situations to say the “wrong” thing because it will lead to those negative comments creeping in.

All this month, I’ve been fighting that sentiment. It’s okay to have a few duds. We all do, we all will always. Everything I’ve released was the best I could do with the time given to me, but what is far, far, far more important is that I enjoyed every second of it. The deadlines have been iffy, and I’ve had to make some changes on the fly but all in all, this has been the best batch of writing I’ve ever gotten to release.

I’m writing about all of us, after all.

We’re not perfect.

We are Resilient.

---

I hope you enjoyed the poem. Don’t forget to follow the blog and stay up to date on all the cool stuff I’ve got coming out until March 31st!

New Sisters of Westwinter out Tomorrow!

• Facebook
• Instagram

Thank you for participating once more in the Lifeis+ celebration. I’ve got a lot to celebrate this time around so you’ll be hearing from me often. If you’d like to read more, you can check out me current fiction project Sisters of Westwinter & The Heart, Felt Series below!

If you’d like to support what I’m doing here, you can click either of the links below to be taken to ways you can help you (if you feel so inclined!)

Identity Mental Health Perfection Poetry writing