To Compare or Not to Compare

Today I’m giving us — you and me — a reminder. Just a small reminder, which is actually more for myself than anyone else. Something I have to remind myself of often, as a mother, as a photographer, as a friend, as a human living on planet Earth. When we compare ourselves to others, which I feel is an unfortunate inevitability of being human, we tend to compare how we feel on the inside to how other people look on the outside.

Illustrator Charlie Mackesy nailed the concept with this drawing. He also wrote one of my favoruite books, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, which is never far from my ever-pondering heart.
If I could see inside of you, if you could see inside of me, our perceptions of each other would change. But so would our perceptions of ourselves.

Makes me wonder, with that framing, is it wrong to compare ourselves? Or does it help us to grow in ways we can’t fathom? In a perfect world, having that level of humility would be truly ideal. But, we live down here in the real world where treading lightly is an understated gift. How do you see it?

Love, Erika

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