What Is Authenticity?

What is Authenticity? What does it mean to be authentic? Do we even know anymore?! I really try to live by the whole “you do you, boo” mantra but dang when you stop and take a look at what’s going on out there it can really get to a girl, ya know?! The drama that’s happening in the blogosphere about instagram and buying followers and loop giveaways is just that. DRAMA. But it really has my wheels spinning about what it means to be authentic in the world of the internet these days.

“Authenticity: Knowing who you are and being brave enough to live it.”

Social media allows us to get so caught up in what other’s are doing on a daily basis. And if you’re not careful every day you can get stuck in the same comparison trap. Comparing not only just looks, clothes, jewelry and handbags but we compare lifestyles, finances and likes, comments and followers. When your instagramming for your business, yes, followers and likes do matter. BUT can we please all agree that we’re not all created equal here? Every business has it’s own journey. Just because one person started last year and now has 50K followers doesn’t mean that you can (or should) too. You work hard, give it your all and see how great you can be.

Do you. Eat, sleep, breathe your brand. And you’ll be great for Y-O-U.

Caroline met and chatted with Jen Gotch while we were at market last weekend!! Ahhh! I’m so sad I missed out on the conversation but her takeaway from their chat about instagram was Jen said, “if you live a perfectly curated life then post that on instagram, if you don’t, don’t post that!” Be you, be authentic! And if you want to be a bad a, creative genius, girl boss but also a little weird and whistle the xfiles songs to your cats, then you do you. (If you don’t follow Jen or know who Jen is, that definitely won’t make sense, sorry bout that!) But really, girls, stop trying to be someone your not. You are good enough! And if you wouldn’t lie or cheat in the real world, with real people in front of you. Don’t do it on the internet.

So a little about me. 2017 is off to one hell of a start for me so blogging has taken a bit of a backseat (sorry friends!) but it’s also given me a little bit of downtime to reflect and think about my future as a blogger.

I don’t want to stop blogging all together because it really is something that I enjoy but I think it’s going to go back to more of a hobby for me. I want it to feel less forced and more authentic.(aka the real reason I started this post – ha!) I want to start sharing more about my life, my travels, my thoughts and my business. I want to share real outfits with you guys not just the ones I styled and shot. I want this to be real, ya dig?

“The real you is where passion happens. It’s where progress happens. It’s where compassion, and truth and adventure happen.” 

Truth is, I don’t have the time to dedicate to blogging that all these killer full time bloggers that I love and admire do, so I need to stop comparing myself to them. It’s stealing my blogging joy and I’m setting too high of expectations for myself.  Am I still going to work hard at this? Yes. Am I going to post 5 days a week, heck no. But I’ll still be here, and hopefully with lots of great content that ya’ll LOVE! I’ll be back next week with bells on. Thanks for your patience, love and support over the years!

xoxoxoxox