I am not the first person to become weary with social media.

This may be a surprise coming from someone who

maintains a blog sharing small and large tidbits of their life.

Sometimes I grow weary of scrolling images and comments as if my index finger traverses

a treadmill with no starting or ending point.

As a blogger, all the “rule books” declare social media as king in regards

to driving traffic to your site.

That is the goal, the holy grail of blogging success.

So after a conference, I joined Twitter.

I rarely post yet somehow I continue to add new followers

without any effort on my part.

It makes me giggle.

I can only stay engaged for so long.

On Facebook, I post regularly and then I don’t.

This summer, I had to navigate all the photos of travel pictures

when our family chose to stay close to home.

It is difficult not to compare.

After all they are called status updates.

We have taken to posting the mundane and

the extravagant.

I fall into that trap of wanting to impress or

to try to appear more fun than I am.

(Just ask my kids, they know the sad truth.)

This summer, I decided that I would not let social media

be the boss of me.

I decided to create a secret Instagram account.

You won’t be able to find it.

I challenged my computer savvy  daughters to try and find my

Instagram and  they gave up.

I have no followers.

It is my attempt to capture and document pictures of

my life.

They are pictures which mean something to me alone.

They aren’t always perfect picture with stunning

backdrops.

They are my life.

If I choose to use a filter, then it is for fun and not to

try to jazz up reality.

Maybe because with this blog, I open the pages

of my heart and let you take a peek.

Having this secret little place has felt like

a photo diary with a sparkly gold lock and key.

From time to time, I scroll on the slowest setting my finger

will allow and as I gaze one by one at

each snapshot, they require not one word of explanation.

I know the photographer.

Summer school lesson #5:

Document your life on purpose and sometimes in secret.