AN YEAR WITHOUT SOCIAL MEDIA

Heyaa! Welcome to a wonderful series about me talking about myself (I know it wasn't required, and nobody asked for this; thank you!). Being an anti-social person, I find it really easy to write down my thoughts rather than talk about them in person. If reading this entertains you, you're welcome; if not, it's okay. I might read this later to amuse myself. So if you are two of my honorable FRIENDS, you might already know that I quit social media for the year 2022 (and am still continuing), and the reason is quite obvious, I was jealous of everybody that breathed rich and successful there; I just couldn't take it but feel overwhelmed by their life's beauty, while I had absolutely nothing to rant about. Basically, I was just existing there for no reason, so I decided to take a year off and put my life back together.

The starting days were like the after effects of a cocaine diet; everything was pulling me to check that message, watch some funny cat videos, stalk people for an unsaid debt, reinstall the apps, etc. On a short note, it was tough (of course, not as tough as what was mentioned above), but with efforts and discipline put together at work, I managed a couple of months. I know some of you reading might go like, ''Ohh, I have heard this before over YouTube, #gettinglifetogether #nosocialmedia #newlife #betterme''.....So did I copy? Yes, my lord, I am GUILTY. Yet I don't remember that female You Tuber's name, but I watched a single video of her of about 1 hour, where she told how her life changed for the better when she took an year off social media, and I thought, "What a FANTASTIC idea! I can definitely pull this off; let's do this!'' (childish, I know). With a mind full of determined emotions, I took the challenge only to come back within A WEEK (thank you, I can hear all your applause).

Well, jokes on me; I really underestimated my addiction but gathered the courage to undo my sins, this time with some creativity. So I researched a little on ''Why people spend so much time on the internet''; here are some of my findings (all thanks to Quora): ''Because there are interesting things to investigate'' (of course knowing if your ex outshined you is CRUCIAL), ''Because they are bored and there is literally nothing else better to do that doesn't require them to spend a butt-load of money they don't have'' (it's harsh, but if you don't have money, go make some; watching Bill Gates would not make you one), ''Because they are jobless'' (this one is always not true as I have seen many people with an office job scrolling through the comment section of controversial videos and adding some "decent comments"). Last but not least, my favorite one is "Because they want to'' (the reason being as sassy as my Asian mom). Jokes apart, a 16–18-year-old spends 5 whole hours on social media platforms on average, so I took that whole AMOUNT (yes, time is money) out of my life and decided to put it to use.

The first thing I decided to spend my time on was reading books that bring WORLDLY knowledge. Some of my old readers might think I am a nerd by now, but firstly, I am not exactly a nerd, and secondly, I am a Comic person (that's child-like... mhmm, thank you!). Thus,  engaging myself for an hour of reading was pure torture, and as a result, I switched to listening to podcasts. I can have a whole debate about why listening to books narrated to you and podcasts are better than actual reading, but that's for another day. The other things I did included helping my mom redesign her garden; if possible, I'll attach some pictures. We actually created a small fountain, to be exact; I'll include that too (just to show off...hahahha). Getting a little part-time job and teaching tutions to my little brother also helped me get productive throughout my day (just for context, I am a middle child). Just like that, those extra hours of scrolling were put under things that were more beneficial for me and created memories that I will cherish my whole life.

Now what's the conclusion? Did quitting social media and living in caves solve all of my problems? NO, Did it make me ANXIETY-FREE? Hell NO! Did I decide to continue living like that? Yeah, for now, I guess (fun fact: I have a Persian, so no more funny cat videos). Would I ever recommend YOU to do that? absolutely NO. The actual thing about quitting social media was not really because I was in heat with anyone achieving anything; it was more about ME being in the exact same place as before, about ME being just a watch-person in the crowd of pedestrians walking past me. That guilt of being unable to move forward was overwhelming, and the only way I could possibly start moving was to become a PEDESTRIAN, not a WATCH-PERSON. Quitting social platforms and social interactions worked for me; maybe it won't for you. Maybe dumping that shitty job or friendships that have lost meaning would work the same way; I don't know. We all have different lives, and if something worked for a few, it doesn't mean the same thing will work for you. That's a pretty long chat; let's catch up in the next episode! TAKE CARE.