Of Being Real And Living Life!
It is coincidental that I came across this quote today when I was already feeling a sense of disillusionment about the social media. How are the two related, you ask? Let me explain.
To while away my evening blues, I was reading through some of my earlier posts in my FB profile and I couldn't help feel that they were written by someone else, someone who wanted some excitement in the day, who wanted some 'likes' and 'comments' by people both known and unknown. As I kept reading the posts, I realized something - they do not represent the real 'Me'.
Sometimes it scares me - in this already illusionary life, as we are sinking deeply into our virtual avatars, what if we lose track of who we really are!? The photos we post in the social media show us smiling and glowing with happiness, but what goes behind-the-scenes? We post travel diaries, praising the place to the sky. But how much time did we spend with our kids who kept watching us type fervently in the mobile about our 'once-in-a-lifetime' experience in the tour? In the process of showing our 'profile' to the world, how much originality did we retain and how thick a facade did we project?
Since some days, I have been trying to limit my gadget-time. To an extent, it is working. When the household chores are done with, I take up reading. When I am not reading, I resort to writing. And thus, the mobile has sort of become the very last option when I feel like I have nothing else to do. Yet I have miles to go. I need to bring in more productivity to my day.
We need to get in touch with our real selves. Somewhere in the course of projecting to the society what it would like to see, and in the process of gaining some admiration and attention, we have lost track of who we really are. I am not my FB profile picture. I am not my post in the FB. I am me, who had to go through several snaps to finally post one which I felt did justice to me. I had to censor much of what I wanted to write as a post, and finally wrote one which was sure to get the approval and notice of the public.
I do not say that social media is wrong for us. It provides the much-needed entertainment to people who are bored of the mundane routines of the day. But losing our real selves in chasing our virtual avatars is not healthy. During the day, whenever you get time, withdraw into yourself and spend some few minutes in silent contemplation, reminding yourself of what you originally are. Do anything that helps you to reconnect with yourself. But don't do it with the intention of posting it in the social media! That destroys the very purpose of this exercise of getting re-acquainted with our original selves. Every now and then, remind yourself of who you are.
I would like to share a personal reflection to make my point. I am in a Reader's group in FB. I see readers posting books that are deep, insightful, soulful and sometimes very tragic. For a while, I tried to read such books so that I too could post reviews in the group. But I soon realized that I am not made for serious reading. I cannot read books on wars or the holocaust anymore. There is enough strife and tragedy in the real life, and I cannot afford the luxury of reading tragedies and heart-wrenching stories. I read stories which are light, casual and funny. While these are not posting-review-in-the-group material, they make me feel light-hearted and help me to relax. So, at the cost of not being able to post reviews in the page, I am doing what I really like to do, regardless of whether the social media approves or not.
Be your own selves. Life life to the real. You are much more than your social-media profile. Strangers and acquaintances from afar need not know the real you! You deserve to live for yourself, not to impress anyone or to get any likes or comments. Do not lose track of your originality in the process of living a virtual life. The real life is the real deal! Be present in the moment, enjoy it to the fullest, and at the end of the day, when you feel like relieving it, then you may write about it if that is what you want. Your car passes by a majestic valley and you immediately write about it, in the process, losing the joy and beauty of the moment. Live it fully, experience it fully. The posts and photos can wait! The joy of experiencing something beautiful and grand will not come again! Live the moment and experience it with all your being!
Be real; the real 'You' is stunning and magnificent and has no requirement of any 'like' or 'comment'! You are wonderful as you are, and this is the plain truth.
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