I think this new era of sharing will be quite different from the way it ever was.

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No longer are people only going to be interested in your smiley, smug photos attending gala dinners, launches, martinis in hand. Us humans also crave to see the dark side: yes, your not-so-good side. It makes us feel better: not so alone.

It’s similar to the notion of spiral dynamics. When too much of one thing is happening, the mind naturally becomes curious to know what happens on the other side. The tendency is to look to the opposite and explore that.

And why not? It is extremely human to err, and sharing it makes you even more interesting. We all make mistakes. Why not share them as a form of healing and helping others realise that life is not that perfect? Who are we to finger wag at others; we have no idea what they are going through.

In my 35th year of life, I want to change my own version of spiral dynamics. I want to become authentically open and honest when I mess up, and show the world that, you know what, I f**k up too. I might look perfect on the outside, but inside I have just as many conundrums in my head as you might, too. I probably just hide it better.

As an example of this, and most definitely due to stress-induced PMS, I burst out in the reception yesterday and called the GM of the spa to tackle an issue. Yes, I was kept waiting all of 15 minutes for my waxing appointment. And yes, this was the third time it had happened there. Now, these 15 minutes might seem petty to others, but to me, I’m a TIME-based person, and time is money, time is precious, time shows honour and respect. Whether I learnt this or not from childhood, and whether it makes any sense, in my world, when someone honours your time, that shows me they respect my ‘being’. As a result of missing those 15 minutes, I could not pick up my son from school, which irked me to no end.

So yes, I pulled the plug, got extremely wound up, and I threw a fit! And you know what? My mind was consumed by it for the whole day. It ruined my mood, I kept questioning my self-control, and was cursing my hormones for driving me up the wall.

But by evening, an epiphany hit me: I am human. And you know what? It’s ok. And this is not such a big deal – let’s move on.


Let’s move away from this fake, inhumane mode of sharing and get real. So consider this - if you're going to share happy social media posts with others, also share the real stuff too - things that you might have messed up, your sad moments, and the like. By sharing your weaknesses (which intrinsically become your strengths - another article), it helps others feel that they are not alone in this life of emotional roller coasters and daily struggles. Our friends become our support groups, empathy increases among our populations, and eventually a feeling of unity takes over.

This is true humanity. Not made-up photos of us amongst clouds of silver dust that exist in a microsecond of human time.

When we can share our vulnerabilities openly, it’s a sign of strength. I commit myself to being authentic and showing both sides of my coin. I close by quoting this wonderful thing I found on the Internet, with no claim to an author.

‘The pain you feel today will be the strength you feel tomorrow.'