Understanding the cliche... and other thoughts

Any of you ever read the blog "Seriously So Blessed?" If you haven't, I highly recommend it (www.seriouslysoblessed.blogspot.com) for a good laugh... as long as you are willing, on some level, to laugh at yourself.

It is a spoof on Mormon/mommy/wifey blogs. And in many ways, it is spot on. The author (I don't know that the public actually has any idea who she is, although she's been interviewed anonymously by various Utah newspapers and magazines) is, in fact, I believe, an LDS wife and mother herself, but the hilarity is that she pokes fun at all of the (and I'm not necessarily exluding myself from this category) Mormon mommies and wives out there who try so hard to be so perfect... and who share it all on their blogs.

Her blogger ego is a stay-at-home mommy of twins whose names have ridiculous spellings, and the wife of an uber perfect husband. She is ultra righteous, super trendy, totally fashionable, and Mrs.- can-do-everything-and-do-it-perfectly (cooking, baking, picture-taking, scrapbooking, arts and crafts, teaching Relief Society...). She's obsessed with Cafe Rio, Lake Powell, Costco (although, who doesn't love Costco, really?), and the gym. AND, she's preggers (yes, preggers). It is fantastic. She strikes a major chord as she playfully mocks this silly culture we've perpetuated for ourselves here in Happy Valley, Utah (although, I didn't even grow up in Utah, but you get the idea).

AND she makes me want to be something other than cliche (although, let's be honest, I'm not off to a very good start... I post a million pictures of my baby all the time... oh, and, I had him at 22... that's not cliche at all... neither is getting married at 20... anyway....). She makes me want to be an individual, to be smart, to be cultured, to be real. Anyway, since I started reading it, even though I think it is positively brilliant and hilarious, I have been thinking... why do we blog, exactly? I can tell you why I do.

I really enjoy the camaraderie I have with other women... whether my mom, my sisters, my friends, gals on the east coast I've never met. You get the idea. I like myself. I am fine with myself. But I also like friends.

I also really enjoy writing (haven't you ever noticed how my blogs are WAY too wordy?). It is cathartic for me. After a long day or a bad day or a day where I feel like all my issues are bottled up, blogging (strange as this sounds) lets them all loose. And lucky you, you get to read about it.

I think having a blog also helps us explain to the world our definition of ourselves. It lets us be literary, artsy, expressive. It lets us tell everyone the cool things we've been up to, or the happy things we are too excited about to keep to ourselves.

Anyway, perhaps it's not so painfully cliche to be a Mormon mommy, house-wife, Relief Society teacher, blogger as we might think. Just remember that you don't have to be perfect, either. I work four days a week. I have plenty of issues. I hate scrapbooking. I'm a pretty lousy chef. I'm not a very good photographer. I don't have super trendy clothes, and I can't really pull off that home-made-fabric-flower-headband-in-your-hair look. I've seen my share of very, very dark times. I have plenty of doubts about myself, about this world. But I am a real person with real talents, who experiences real joy in being a mother and a wife (well, most of the time).

Plus, to the rest of the world, we are a unique bunch. We've got a lot of things figured out. Just don't forget to be yourself while simultaneously trying to be a great mommy, wife, cook, visiting teacher, Costco-shopper, marathon runner, fashionista. Also don't get so caught up in blogging about your life that you forget to actually live it.

Speaking of not being cliche, here are some recent Mark gems (I can't help it, I try but it's just futile):


Mark is going to be a monkey for Halloween... and you get to see a sneak peak.

Mark and Danny... enjoying a fabulously overcast Fall day.

And here's yours truly. When I was a kid I could never figure out why my mom wasn't in any pictures and then realized she was always behind the camera taking shots of us kids (since we were so darling and entertaining...). Anyway, I made Hannah take a picture of me so that for once I could remember what I looked like at this time of my life (this is much better than my self-taken pictures in the mirror, right? I thought so).

Thanks for reading. Have a Happy Sunday.

xoxo
-a