Social media turned into a highlight reel of extremes. We show the victories and the breakdowns, not the parts in between. The middle is where life happens, but it’s quiet, unfiltered, and unglamorous
We’ve turned our lives into performance art. Every post is either a victory lap or a confession. The highs get applause, the lows get sympathy, and everything else disappears. But life mostly happens in the quiet middle, and that’s the part no one sees.
We post when we win. New job. New car. Wedding in the Family. College graduation. 1st place in a pickleball tournament.
We post when we fall apart. Breakup. Loss. Burnout.
But the rest of our lives stay hidden.
No one sees you eating peanut butter & jelly or cereal for dinner on a Tuesday.
No one sees you sitting in traffic, half-awake, replaying a dumb argument.
No one sees you doing laundry at midnight because your mind won’t stop running.
No one sees the argument you had with your spouse.
That’s life, too. But it’s not clickable.
The algorithm rewards drama
Social media thrives on spikes.
The algorithm pushes what stops people mid-scroll.
The middle of life doesn’t stop anyone.
A photo of you doing laundry won’t trend. A mental breakdown might.
This isn’t your fault. The system trains you to perform. Every like tells you what to post next.
And we learn fast.
The middle doesn’t get applause
Normal life doesn’t get validation.
A “decent day at work” won’t make hearts appear on your screen.
We learn to curate. We hide the ordinary to protect our value.
Your feed becomes a billboard, not a diary.
But the result is distance.
We compare our real lives to other people’s edited ones, then feel like we’re losing.
The truth: connection lives in the middle
The most relatable moments are the least shareable ones.
When you’re tired but still show up.
When you’re proud but still doubt yourself.
When you’re bored, anxious, content, and everything in between.
These don’t fit in a viral post, but they’re where we meet each other as humans.
The fix: post the middle
Try posting one “middle” thing this week. Something real, small, and unpolished.
Share a small win that no one noticed but you.
Share something you failed at without dramatizing it.
Share a day that was neither amazing nor awful, just normal.
You’ll notice who responds. It’s often the people who needed to see proof that life is messy and fine at the same time.
We don’t need more highlight reels. We need more honest records.
Not everything has to be content. Sometimes it can just be truth.
Thought for Today:
The highs make people cheer. The lows make them worry.
But the middles make them understand you.
And that’s where real connection begins.