Everything Communicates

Recently here at BYU Idaho we had a conference titled "Power to Be." Because I'm alumni (oh, and I'm married to the audio engineer) I had access to the live stream. I was able to watch some of these talks and learn from these other amazing alumni who have graduated and moved on to big and great things. I rather enjoyed it. One thing has really stuck with me, however. One guy got up to talk about social media and the picture it paints and how it should tell the story you want. He related a story of going to a restaurant and seeing an empty cardboard box sitting in the corner. He talked about how that box communicated something to him. How it said that the employees there were sloppy, that they were too lazy to throw the box away, etc. He then turned it around and said that, in our daily lives, everything we do communicates something about us. How we dress, how we behave and talk, the things we post online, and so on and so forth. I was so relieved to hear this! I've believed this for so long! And it was so refreshing to hear it taught from someone much wiser and more experienced than myself.  He went on to say that we need to rid our lives of our cardboard boxes. Are we telling the story we want to be?

This caused quite a bit of thought into my own life. Since his main topic was social media, the first thing I did was go onto my Facebook page and read all my posts. Do they accurately portray me? I believe that they do. I am not so fake that I never post frustrations or pet peeves, but for the most part I am positive. I post a lot about my family because they're the most important thing to me. Then I looked at my blog. Am I painting the picture I want to here? I believe I am. Once again, I'm not always upbeat and happy go lucky. But my struggles are real. And when I post about something negative, I usually steer it back to the gospel, or something happy, because that's what I do in real life to make myself feel better. 

But then, because he related it to every aspect of our lives, I've also thought about a lot of other things: the state of my house, how I dress myself and my children when we go out, the way I treat Scott when he's around and talk about him when he's not, the decor throughout my home, my yard (I'm afraid that one needs some work), service to others, my visiting teaching record, whether or not I wear a smile, etc. Everything we do communicates something to someone. And I don't want any cardboard boxes in my life. I want everything I do to communicate the story that I want to tell. I want everything I do to communicate that I love my family. I want everything I do to tell of my moral character and the standards that I uphold and revere. I want everything I do to say that I am a disciple of Christ.

What an amazing point. What an amazing way to think about this. So what are your cardboard boxes? Let's throw them out :)

As a side note, this also reminded me of Mulan when she recites the "final admonition." It goes: "Fulfill your duties calmly and respectfully. Reflect before you act. This shall bring you honor and glory." Also a very fine point :)