It just occurred to me that the photograph (above) posted on FaceBook recently was one of the most honest social media posts I’ve ever done. It’s a photo of my  house guest Victoria under my sink with my friend Trent dealing with my garbage disposal – which threatened to flood the kitchen. An earlier post on Instagram from  Lake Arrowhead showed a whole other version of my dinner parties – candle light, the lake – it was lovely.

Here’s the thing.  Our social media pictures are usually tiny highlights of perfection – not everyday life.

Like those holiday cards that come around every year. Usually they arrive at the worst times in your own life – And there they are – your friends on skis, on a sailboat, in a pool, on a beach, sometimes in matching outfits, surrounded by flowers or sand or pristine snow. Always happy. Perfect lives. I still remember a vacation photograph that my sister-in-law Joanna sent me years ago. I had just given up smoking and here comes this picture of Joanna (sent by snail mail – it was that long ago). She was on a cruise, wearing a long silky dress looking utterly serene and gorgeous with her perfect hair and slim little body and there I was in my kitchen in Palos Verdes, having gained like twenty pounds in one week, and detoxing from nicotine made me look not only puffy but crazed and possibly dangerous.

I see what I’m doing on FB and Instagram – parties, my perfect dog Nelson, sunsets, vacations et al. I was going to post a picture of my ordinary daily life, my desk in chaos and me in despair and ungroomed. But the picture of my friends with their heads under my kitchen sink as garbage was about to overflow says it even better.

But I warn you. J. and I are going to Greece next month. The part you’ll see on social media will be blue Aegean sea, white beaches et al.