Finding your true calling? For starters, ignore those social media notifications and bells for goodness sake….
The bedside clock reads a time of 2 a.m. It’s been 40 minutes and no new notification has popped up on the phone screen hinting at, you have at least 10 likes on your latest insta pic. You check the phone again in case you missed it amid other zillion notifications. Nope. Nada… The screen is as old as it was a few seconds ago…
A pop-up thought cloud above your head says it’s just 2 am and surely half of my peers are extending their normal working hrs into a graveyard shift, but still, no one checked their phone yet? I am common, what is wrong with people?
And then, you receive a love emoji from a friend whose bio reads a self-confessed owl in a human body. Only to further soothe your soul, there is comment too, that says Hey bestie, you just slay this pic. Girl, you are so chic. Love ya…
Alas.., this sweet-screen victory calms your anxious nerves. Pic purpose served all right. But you just don’t stop here, you have the future agenda (Ahem…for next two days) already set. Just a few filters here and there and you are good. So much to share, post and convey (bragging fits right in)… Those Kappamaki sushi rolls you savored in that uber Japanese joint needs posting too. They were basic and bland, but hey who’s to know? Plus it sounds exotic. I am so winning this coming week insta feed…caption–Sushi, swag, savor…
Ok, honestly how many of us can relate to this above mentioned “have to slay the social media throne” scenario? Don’t even bother nodding that yes because, in today’s day and age, it’s simply hard to break this “married to my phone” cord and with each passing day that cord is getting tighter and stronger.
Well, technology advancement is sure a boon factor for educational, scientific and interpersonal advancement but hey, it’s nowhere written on the stones that you should be constantly glued to your iPhone, iPad just to let the world know, you had pizza and cola for dinner!
As the founders of these social media sites claim that, the “solo motto” of creating these platforms was to connect people virtually and share their insightful stories with others to create bonding, knowledge sharing, and effortless banter! But in this millennia time zone, the constant need to impress others to earn a few virtual likes and winks is giving us unwanted anxiety. What’s worse, we don’t mind proclaiming the famous “What to do, I am a self-confessed social media addict tag. And I love it.
Psychologists and experts feel that this social media anxiety and addiction is here to stay for long unless he or she self analyze and find the answer to the simple question–why this hype? What I am achieving with this 50-60 likes and comments that holds no meaning. The troll you got on your unfiltered pic had comments that read zombie at work, natural disaster… You cribbed and couldn’t keep sane for 2 days. Because you always crave for claps and not boos.
It’s time you cut this “social media” junk cord and invest the precious minutes into doing things that can uplift, upgrade and enrich you.
For starters, try going phone, I-pad free for 20 minutes. Use this time to pursue something which was always on your bucket-list like dancing, painting, macramé art, and even diary-keeping!
Yes, diaries are back and how. No, not the app ones which are pre-installed in your phones and laptops but the bound, paged ones which look, feels and acts like a trusted companion.
A diary for a social media wrenched soul
Have you noticed whenever you post and share about your gloomy, sad mood for whatsoever reasons on social platforms with a pic or bio-headline, mostly leaves you with sarcastic, not so soul-soothing comments from your peers? The most cherished comment is, get over it, drama king/queen.
Try saying this to a diary and notice the difference. It is a patient listener and will never taunt you. Writing your worries and woes in a diary will make you find your constructive answers. And why only dark secrets, you can write joyous, inspirational thoughts and quotes in the same which uplifts and matures you thoughts wise.
A diary will never judge you; in fact, it always leaves a page or two for improvement on the matters which you have self-attested!
Pen the passion
Okay, so you have earned the virtual claps on your guitar skills and friends made fabulous comments like, brother, you are a next Kurt Cobain/ Axl rose in the making. Really?
It’s not that you can’t achieve the similar string expertise, you sure can but with persistence and curiosity. Instead of posting a video of a half-baked jam session of your guitar tune on social media, why not up the game by improving on the left-hand grip, working on difficult cords, etc. and jotting the same in the diary. Make it a habit of writing the same whenever you hold that hollow wood instrument. As you progress, do tick off the same from the diary only to make space for new tricks and even a new tune, fresh of your mind!!
Your passion, hobbies can be anything. Keeping a note of the same with handwritten words makes it weighty and responsible. Enjoyed that first-ever salsa lesson, share it with your diary or journal. And next time, when you come back to the “salsa stories” page, don’t forget to write about “how you repeatedly stamped on to your partner’s feet!!
Grab a diary and write the first thing that comes to your mind. It opens up many closed doors of the mind. And if you write, “I am addicted to social media”, then congrats, you have chosen the perfect “word rehab”!!!
Inspired to write about your passion already? Get yourself a diary/journal by JotJoy. They have diaries for each passion and needs. Be it cooking, traveling or fitness, they have journals crafted for everyone who wears passion on their sleeves!!
Trupti Palav
Image Credits: Pixabay.com