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This week, we sat down to talk with our friend and writer Kristine Haglund about the envying lives we don't have, and particularly people whose family situations look simpler or more functional than our own.

Kristine has had a longstanding, studied fascination with Mormon mommy bloggers, the forerunners to today's Mormon lifestyle influencers--sometimes called "trad wives"--that have by now captured the world's attention. A student of American religious history, Kristine helps us set this in the context of the rise of television, print, and digital media that often does the thinking for us of what family should look like. Even the Church has leaned into producing images of the family that can obscure what family is about. 

How do we get past these images to remember the real purpose of family? How do we appreciate the friction and sometimes chaos that real relationships bring, and not feel discouraged if they don't look a certain way? How do we work through feelings of envy, and the illusory versions of family that social media can produce? 

We discuss this and more in this episode, and would love to hear what you think. You can email us at [email protected] with feedback or topic suggestions.

BTW, Kristine sent over a book recommendation for anyone who wants to dig deeper into these questions: "Till We Have Faces," by C.S. Lewis. Kristine says, "It's completely unlike his other books, and touches on questions of beauty, ugliness, envy, and idolatry. If I had to name one book that has shaped my understanding of faith most profoundly, this might be it."

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