Brett Cooper

Maybe that's just my algorithm.

Maybe you're like, Brett, I have never seen one of those videos in my life, but that is what I see on a daily basis.

Regardless, and this just goes back to one of the common pitfalls of social media, but it is incredibly easy to see what people present on social media and believe that that is normal or expected and that you won't be able to live up to that.

And that, of course, then causes more insecurity about the size of your space or how much money you have to spend on an event, whether people will be impressed.

And I, oh my gosh,

I cannot even tell you guys how many times Alex has had to talk me off a ledge when I am inviting people over or planning a party because I'm worried that our guests will hate my cooking or that my cake looks like crap or that our house isn't clean enough or it isn't big enough and the bathroom doesn't look cool enough because we never put the wallpaper up that I wanted to put up or I don't have enough activities planned and nobody's going to talk about anything.

And guess what?

What?

Even though I will cry over that, like I'm embarrassed to admit that I literally might have like an emotional breakdown before people come over, it always turns out fine.

It's okay.

And the world keeps spinning and over time you get better and better, not just at hosting and bringing people together, but also being sure of yourself in playing that role within your community.

And what I'm really trying to say is that throwing a party or having people over, building community, it does not have to be Instagrammable and aesthetic and perfectly curated.

And honestly, it really shouldn't be.

You shouldn't be inviting people over just to have fodder for your Instagram story.

But still, regardless of that, people continue to push back.

Under another TikTok on the same topic, somebody said, hosting is a lost art.

And then somebody else replied and said, literally, especially in this economy, and again,

I know, and obviously the economy is a huge issue.

Donald Trump, please help us.

But I swear, like up there with the lack of social skills is Gen Z's lack of problem solving and resolve because this is an easy problem to address.