What you DON'T see in our idyllic family vacation photos

[What you DON'T see in our idyllic family vacation photos]( A few years ago, our family took a two-week road trip through the Pacific Northwest. We visited six state parks and four national parks, camped under the Redwoods, frolicked in the Pacific Ocean, hiked through breathtaking scenery, and ate and laughed with friends and family who traveled with us. Perusing the photos from that vacation (or "family trip" to be more accurate, per M. Blazoned's brilliant analysis), I see gorgeous vistas and genuine smiles, children playing and families picnicking, magical moments of beauty and bliss. But photos never show the whole picture, do they? This is a problem in the social media age as studies suggest that constantly seeing people's "highlight reels" on Facebook and Instagram can lead to sadness and/or jealousy. Apparently, scrolling through photos of our friends basking on beautiful beaches while we're waging whining wars with our wee ones can make us feel all icky inside. Go figure. Since I don't like the thought of people feeling icky inside, I thought it might be helpful to share what you don't see in our fun family vacation photos: [Read the Story]( ['Birds Aren't Real': Whether comedy or conspiracy, the movement explains the post-truth era]( A lot of talking heads have remarked that we live in a post-truth era. In 2016, the Oxford Dictionary defined it as "Relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief." Media bias, political microtargeting, social media, fake news websites, Donald Trump, and man's innate desire to prefer being right over correct, have all unwillingly conspired to create a society where people cling to tribal beliefs, regardless of their validity. This has resulted in a social milieu where conspiracy theories have become mainstream. Sure, they've always been around, but they seem to have recently graduated from the basement to the mainstream. [Read the Story]( [This woman used creative writing as a refuge while growing up in the midst of a violent drug war. And now she's fostering a love for LatinX poetry.]( Davina Agudelo was born in Miami, Florida, but she grew up in Medellín, Colombia. "I am so grateful for my upbringing in Colombia, surrounded by mountains and mango trees, and for my Colombian family," Agudelo says. "Colombia is the place where I learned what's truly essential in life." It's also where she found her passion for the arts. While she was growing up, Colombia was going through a violent drug war, and Agudelo turned to literature, theater, singing, and creative writing as a refuge. "Journaling became a sacred practice, where I could leave on the page my dreams & longings as well as my joy and sadness," she says. "During those years, poetry came to me naturally. My grandfather was a poet and though I never met him, maybe there is a little bit of his love for poetry within me." [Read the Story]( [Wife writes the most amazing obituary for 'dead sexy' husband and everyone is loving it]( Obituaries tend to be terribly sad things that remind the living how much they have lost. Crystal Sauser, a wife from Nebraska, decided against following tradition. In order to capture her husband Eric Sauser's personality and leave a more lasting impression on readers, she decided to write an obituary worthy of his legacy. It has since gone viral. The couple had been married for 13 years when Eric, aged 43, lost a two-year-long battle with cancer on February 26 this year. In addition to his wife, the former dental technician leaves behind daughters Amelia and Violet, aged 11 and nine, respectively, and son Benjamin, aged five, Good Morning America reports. "I think his face is so red," Sauser said in an interview with the news outlet when asked about how her husband would react to all the attention her obituary has received. "He's completely embarrassed by me saying things [in the obituary] like, 'He's dead sexy,' but he would be so happy that he wasn't cookie cutter." The obituary was published by Omaha World-Herald on February 28 and makes note of his many quirky characteristics. This gives Eric's friends and family a way to remember him beyond his fight with cancer. [Read the Story]( [If you shame people for wearing masks, you only succeed in making yourself look ridiculous]( My husband was working out in our front yard, wearing an N95 mask, when a man driving by gestured to his face and yelled, "Take it off!" I've seen anti-maskers. I've heard their arguments for not wearing a mask in the middle of a viral pandemic. I know they think they don't work, or that they actually make you sick, or that they're a way for the government to control our behavior, or [fill-in-the-blank conspiracy theory]. But I wish I could bring that guy back and show him what he was actually yelling at. [Read the Story]( Let's be social! [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [Website]( [Twitter]( [LinkedIn]( Copyright © 2021 GOOD | Upworthy, All rights reserved. 1370 N St Andrews Pl, Los Angeles, CA 90028 You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](.