Beneath the Surface: Unmasking the Real You and Liking What You See

As women, we compete for attention, validation, admiration, and the like. Today, technology makes it possible to connect with family and friends instantaneously. We have so many options. Gone are the days of a hand-written letter and rare are the phone conversations or times to really be authentic with a close friend. Technology makes it easy for women to portray an ideal life that competes with those whose lives they see represented on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and other social media. By going beneath the surface and discovering God's true design for womanhood, women can feel empowered, energized, and free to remove the masks and confidently embrace a life of authenticity.

While technologies such as social media and websites can improve our abilities and options to connect, they also mean there are just so many more channels we have to manage-relationships, perceptions, details, and to top it off, we have to be aware of how our communications will be read and interpreted on the receiving end.

Even though women long for meaningful relationships and an authentic life story, they often find themselves exhausted from having to create and maintain a variety of masks to wear during the appropriate settings that prevent them from this.

As with anything, when it is overused, technology can take away from truly deep one-on-one intimacy and interaction. Anything we come to rely on to substitute for personal relationships runs the risks of losing authenticity.