I know the title is a bit tacky but I think its apt to what I am about to say below.
Life in general keeps kicking our butt all the time. Well at least that's the case for most of the people, unless you are filthy rich and have everything you want. You are usually working under a boss who is never really happy with you no matter how much effort you put in and while going on with the rigmarole of life, our only escape seems to be the world of social media (facebook, instagram, snapchat et all). Everyone does the methodical switching of different apps and scrolling through a few times and repeat it many times in the day only to end up a lot more frustrated than we actually are.
Facebook and for that matter even Instagram now a days has become a place to boast. Everyone seems to be having a better time than you, travelling, buying stuff and eventually they give you a constant feeling of inadequacy. A feeling that nothing interesting is happening in our lives. I've been the culprit and also the victim of this. I've been one of those who constantly posted about anything and everything I did and I have also been the victim of looking at other peoples posts and thinking that nothing interesting is happening in my life. I've had that uneasiness when I didn't get enough likes for my posts and went into useless self analysis about what might've been wrong with my post and all that. I'm sure a lot of people have been through it and must still be going through similar feelings.
Facebook had gone from a place to connect with old friends to a place to boast about anything and everything. I have a little more than a thousand friends on Facebook and if all of them were really "friends" every post I put should've ideally got at-least 500 likes which never really happens. That only means that the other so called friends are just there to snoop around to see what others are upto. It had become a sort of a authorized surveillance app.
I've had that feeling for a really long time and one fine day I had this amazing Eureka moment. I decided to stay away from Facebook for a month. I confess that it was a little difficult at first but as time passed, it became easier. I uninstalled the app from my phone which made it easier to not give into the temptation and over a period of time I noticed that I was much calmer. I stopped having the itch to click a pic of everything and post. Since I'm not looking at what other people are doing, I'm a lot more calm and best of all, my phone battery lasts much longer :) . I also noticed that I am more present in the moment rather than wanting to go live on Facebook or having to put up pics and thinking of fancy titles and hashtags.
Anyways all that aside, its been about 2 years since I've taken my hiatus from Facebook and I do not miss it one bit. I haven't deleted my profile as such but I do use it as a birthday reminder. Thankfully it doesn't need me to login and instead it just sends me a mail. The only social media app I use as of now is Instagram. I like this over other apps because you have the option to follow or unfollow people. You don't really have to unfriend anyone and that I feel is much better. Plus I use it only to promote my photography and Insta is an amazing way to get the reach provided we also use the right hashtags.
So, the gist of the story is this. We are usually unhappy when comparisons come into picture. The comparison between the haves and have nots and also between the pretty and the average. Facebook has inadvertently promoted this comparison which has lead to a lot of dissatisfaction and self loathing. I have kept away from it and I feel I am a much happier person. I don't feel the urge to post anything and neither to I feel bad for not getting a higher number of likes which unfortunately became the new sign of acceptance.
In conclusion, live and enjoy the moments, take pictures and look back on them instead of trying to be physically present and mentally absent. Disconnect to connect!
#Change, #Happiness, #Facebook
Life in general keeps kicking our butt all the time. Well at least that's the case for most of the people, unless you are filthy rich and have everything you want. You are usually working under a boss who is never really happy with you no matter how much effort you put in and while going on with the rigmarole of life, our only escape seems to be the world of social media (facebook, instagram, snapchat et all). Everyone does the methodical switching of different apps and scrolling through a few times and repeat it many times in the day only to end up a lot more frustrated than we actually are.
Facebook and for that matter even Instagram now a days has become a place to boast. Everyone seems to be having a better time than you, travelling, buying stuff and eventually they give you a constant feeling of inadequacy. A feeling that nothing interesting is happening in our lives. I've been the culprit and also the victim of this. I've been one of those who constantly posted about anything and everything I did and I have also been the victim of looking at other peoples posts and thinking that nothing interesting is happening in my life. I've had that uneasiness when I didn't get enough likes for my posts and went into useless self analysis about what might've been wrong with my post and all that. I'm sure a lot of people have been through it and must still be going through similar feelings.
Facebook had gone from a place to connect with old friends to a place to boast about anything and everything. I have a little more than a thousand friends on Facebook and if all of them were really "friends" every post I put should've ideally got at-least 500 likes which never really happens. That only means that the other so called friends are just there to snoop around to see what others are upto. It had become a sort of a authorized surveillance app.
I've had that feeling for a really long time and one fine day I had this amazing Eureka moment. I decided to stay away from Facebook for a month. I confess that it was a little difficult at first but as time passed, it became easier. I uninstalled the app from my phone which made it easier to not give into the temptation and over a period of time I noticed that I was much calmer. I stopped having the itch to click a pic of everything and post. Since I'm not looking at what other people are doing, I'm a lot more calm and best of all, my phone battery lasts much longer :) . I also noticed that I am more present in the moment rather than wanting to go live on Facebook or having to put up pics and thinking of fancy titles and hashtags.
Anyways all that aside, its been about 2 years since I've taken my hiatus from Facebook and I do not miss it one bit. I haven't deleted my profile as such but I do use it as a birthday reminder. Thankfully it doesn't need me to login and instead it just sends me a mail. The only social media app I use as of now is Instagram. I like this over other apps because you have the option to follow or unfollow people. You don't really have to unfriend anyone and that I feel is much better. Plus I use it only to promote my photography and Insta is an amazing way to get the reach provided we also use the right hashtags.
So, the gist of the story is this. We are usually unhappy when comparisons come into picture. The comparison between the haves and have nots and also between the pretty and the average. Facebook has inadvertently promoted this comparison which has lead to a lot of dissatisfaction and self loathing. I have kept away from it and I feel I am a much happier person. I don't feel the urge to post anything and neither to I feel bad for not getting a higher number of likes which unfortunately became the new sign of acceptance.
In conclusion, live and enjoy the moments, take pictures and look back on them instead of trying to be physically present and mentally absent. Disconnect to connect!
#Change, #Happiness, #Facebook
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