I am an Instagram addict! It is my favourite form of social media. I love that you get to see the people and families behind the tweets. It's more instant than a blog and something you can just dip in and out of while feeling that you're getting to know the people you follow.
At a blogging seminar I eagerly attended recently, one of the speakers suggested that you used Instagram as an extension of your blog. She stated that she made sure that you could tell from her photos that they matched her blog by the style, the use of colour.
This, completely unintentionally on the speaker's part, sent me into a bit of a spin. If you follow me on Instagram you might even have noticed that instead of my usual constant stream of photos, I have only uploaded a few over the past couple of weeks.
I've become acutely aware that I don't have a style or a 'niche', my photos aren't technically great or stylistically themed. They are random shots of the children where I'm trying to hide that horrible wallpaper or just endless cups of coffee and red lipstick.
I've become scared of taking photos in rooms that we haven't finished (or even started) redecorating yet. I've missed what would have been a great capture because of the pile of toys in the background or the half painted wall.
It's just like the trap of never inviting anyone over because you think your house is too untidy or people will judge you for having awful wallpaper. Yet really you are the one that is actually missing out by doing these things.
It's not that I'm comparing myself to others and feeling I come up short or wishing that I had their apparent perfect life. I've been through that before, this is about wanting to show things the way I wish they were. No walls in need of decorating or half finished jobs, no stained carpet or yet to be swept floor.
But do you know what? I know I don't have a perfect house or family, and unlike the aforementioned seminar speaker, my blog isn't really about beautifully styled photos (even if I wish it could be!). I have always said that this is just an open and honest place where I don't try and be something I'm not, and so my Instagram should be like that too.
Yes, I like pretty photos and I will still try and avoid ugly wallpaper shots, but do you know what, this is where we are at right now. I may cringe at the Christmas and birthday photos taken in the dining room because of the pale yellow textured wallpaper and the brown floral border (-I know!). I may look at them in years to come and wish we'd done something about them sooner, but what it won't change is the great memories that those photos show and that is what I need to remember.
Maybe in the future I will have the home that I dream of on Pinterest with the white walls and wooden floors like so many of my favourite Instagrammers or bloggers and then that will be the reality I show.
For now, however, I guess I'm just trying to find the balance. I know I'm not an aspirational style blog so I shouldn't try to be and I definitely won't stop taking photos because of it.
Morgana is a 20-something year old and mum to a 5-year-old wannabe princess/fairy/musketeer and a cheeky toddler. She's also partial to a bit of vintage styling and thrifty living.
Blogs at: But Why Mummy Why?
Twitter: @butwhymummywhy