Dear Olive
Dear Olive,
I only know you through lurking on Instagram. In all transparency, I found you way back in the day when you could see what people you follow had "liked." Someone I knew had liked one your posts, and I fell into the rabbit hole that is your Instagram profile.
You mentioned yesterday that you are taking a one, two, or three month hiatus from Instagram - because the app isn't doing it for you anymore, in a lot of ways. I can only totally agree. Instagram has gone downhill, and continues to do so at an alarming momentum.
I liked you initially because you seemed health-conscious; you do hot yoga, pilates, and barre - all things I've wanted to do, or have only tried a few times - and when I first started following you, I was in awe of your relationship with your husband, whom you adore. I was jealous and wanted to know all your secrets - how you stuck to a diet of seeds and yogurt and eggs for breakfast, one glass of red wine with dinner. You travel extensively. When you announced you were pregnant, I was excited for you, and when you took your baby to Paris and Copenhagen, at only three months old, I admired that tremendously. You have a certain spunk that I just get.
One day, out of the blue - or maybe not, because you mention you do this occasionally - you gave yourself an "Olive chop." You cut off nine inches of your hair over your bathroom sink. You said that you do this because it's "practical." But because you're not bad looking anyway, it looked gorgeous. You got three thousand likes on that post. If someone else, say, me, were to post a nine-inch chop, I would come out looking like an asylum escapee, and would get two likes.
But it's not even about the likes - or maybe it is. People WANT - genuinely want - to see what you do with your life.
You also have what I would call joie de vivre - and you put that to good use. You have a blog on Substack that is extremely popular, where you put your doctorate in nursing to good use. You are excited, thrilled even, to post and share your experiences with a healthy lifestyle. It is infectious.
You are perhaps infectious - and your love for the life you live. Your son is so cute, it makes me want kids, and your little family is so - quaint, almost. Your use Instagram filters but it doesn't matter - the realness, the rawness, comes through anyway, in a deep, meaningful way.
So while I lurk on Instagram, and follow your adventures through life, I want you to know that I admire your decision to take a month(s) leave from Instagram. I wish I had the same gumption, or even joie de vivre, that you have, to just "log off" for a while, and focus on what makes YOU happy. It's truly admirable.
Best of luck in the real world, I'll miss your content.
-A.