So, I see that it's been more than 7 years since I last embraced the urge to pen down my thoughts on my blog page. Primarily, I would attribute it to the alluring distraction that is social media. For most of the last decade, it's either been Facebook this, Insta that, Tweet here, Snapchat there and not to be left out, WhatsApp has entirely replaced texting and redefined communication in ways that nobody could have fathomed.
Two weeks back, I decided to deactivate my Facebook. At the time, I had 104 friends on my list and at its peak, I had over 750 friends many of whom I would chat with periodically for the various online games we used to play or bike trips we had planned or just reminiscing about school and college. Gradually, the apps became more diverse and commercial while I matured along the way, focusing more on making money. I became conscious that I had a lot of "friends" that I never spoke with or interacted but just had them on, because. I began pruning and selecting those whom I wanted to be in the audience seats to the show that my life is. Eventually, my interaction with the 104 people I had chosen also became minuscule and was being drowned in the vast sea of advertisements and videos that Facebook thought I should spend more time watching instead of showing me memories from my friends' lives.
From a time when every trip to a new city, checking into a hotel room, every picture ever taken, every video watched and post published on the wall was a statement that needed to be acknowledged and seen as a testament to one's popularity and social standing, to now - not wanting to share anything, has been quite the journey.
Yesterday, while reading a colleague's blog I was overcome with a warm, familiar nostalgia which triggered in me a realization. I am not short of words; I was just busy believing that being accepted on a large social media platform was more important than nurturing the passion in me to write. For quite some time now, people have been urging me to begin writing again, and yet it was only once I decoupled my life from the attachment I had with social media, did I find the time and will to pursue something I love.
Words.
Best,
AaMen
Two weeks back, I decided to deactivate my Facebook. At the time, I had 104 friends on my list and at its peak, I had over 750 friends many of whom I would chat with periodically for the various online games we used to play or bike trips we had planned or just reminiscing about school and college. Gradually, the apps became more diverse and commercial while I matured along the way, focusing more on making money. I became conscious that I had a lot of "friends" that I never spoke with or interacted but just had them on, because. I began pruning and selecting those whom I wanted to be in the audience seats to the show that my life is. Eventually, my interaction with the 104 people I had chosen also became minuscule and was being drowned in the vast sea of advertisements and videos that Facebook thought I should spend more time watching instead of showing me memories from my friends' lives.
From a time when every trip to a new city, checking into a hotel room, every picture ever taken, every video watched and post published on the wall was a statement that needed to be acknowledged and seen as a testament to one's popularity and social standing, to now - not wanting to share anything, has been quite the journey.
Yesterday, while reading a colleague's blog I was overcome with a warm, familiar nostalgia which triggered in me a realization. I am not short of words; I was just busy believing that being accepted on a large social media platform was more important than nurturing the passion in me to write. For quite some time now, people have been urging me to begin writing again, and yet it was only once I decoupled my life from the attachment I had with social media, did I find the time and will to pursue something I love.
Words.
Best,
AaMen
