Apologies for the Apology.
A Thread (you were warned)

It will come as no surprise to anyone that the lives portrayed on social media are not always an accurate representation of people's real lives.
I am not suggesting that people are lying, or even embellishing (although...

obviously it happens occasionally). It is probably more accurate to say that, for most people, social media is a great place to share the positives.
I recently joked about all of the tidy houses that were on display with the newly decorated Christmas trees, but then I wondered...

if there were any corners of houses burdened with the mess that had been moved from the view of the camera - a not so metaphorical sweeping under the carpet. It would be difficult, after all, to post disarray amidst the perfect order.

Why am I banging on about tidy living...

rooms? Well I'm not really. I'm thinking about how tough it is to look at social media sometimes and remember that people are sharing the best of themselves. Even during this year from hell, many of us feel like positivity is what we should share.
The intent is almost...

definitely rooted in kindness; nobody wants to add to the stress that others are already under. However, the good intent may sometimes backfire.
If we always declare how wonderful it is to be a teacher, headteacher, mother, father, daughter, son... as if work and relationships...

are always just a fluffy ball of sparkly loveliness, then we are in danger of making others feel like failures.
I'm not suggesting that we all start airing our dirty laundry on Twitter, or turn our daily tweets into a bitch fest, but maybe a little more openness wouldn't kill...

us.
Fallibility amongst those we see as role models, just makes aspiration more achievable. Openness about hardship is strength and bravery, not weakness.
There are some who share the lows alongside the highs, and they are known not just for their strength, but for their...

honesty and integrity.
But there are still many that would have you believe that every single day is sunshine and lollipops, and even when they wrestled crocodiles or had an Ofsted inspection, they were still perfectly perfect in every way.
I don't blame them. It is tough to...

admit anything but a Miss Honey approach to life in the teaching profession. We do it because we care, so having a sweary rant isn't going to look good is it??

Or is it OK occasionally to admit that you had a bad day, so others can feel comfortable about admitting they had...

one too.
Think of yourself as the brave child who put their hand up to say they didn't understand, and then watch the classroom equivalent of a Mexican wave (Wow, this is too many metaphors even for me).

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is I'm going to try to stop feeling...

inadequate for bad days. I'm going to try to stop fearing vulnerability. I'm going to stop deleting emotionally honest tweets.
I'm going to stop saying sorry for saying sorry.