I sometimes consider deleting my Facebook account and telling Mark Zuckerberg to “shove it.” Whose idea was this anyway? Social media. A place for someone to bombard the public with their opinions (like I’m doing right now), or scroll through the endless list of other people’s political views, lifestyle tips and, of course, selfies.
This simple idea has evoked massive amounts of change in the way we display ourselves to others. We post hundreds of photos of concerts we’ve attended, vacations, camping trips, weddings, bar mitzvahs, quinceaneras etc. We feel inclined to want to let others know that we are witty, intriguing individuals, who do more than sit on the couch and watch reruns of the "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air." We don't want to see boring. For instance, when was the last time you posted a picture of yourself in sweatpants cuddling with your dog in the middle of the living room? Never.
But for what? I am still trying to figure this out. We seem hell-bent on making our lives seem more interesting than the kid who is ACTUALLY sitting at home watching reruns. We’ve become encapsulated with trying to accumulate the most likes and shares on our posts that we fail to recognize the beauty in the moment at hand.
Instead, we are thinking about whether we’ll get more likes than Janet down the street, who recently went on vacation to Europe. Stupid Janet. She thinks she's so special because she visited the Eiffel Tower. If you tell me you’ve never had a thought such as this one, then you are in denial.
Likes and shares have become a currency of sorts. The richest people have the most and are apparently living life to the fullest, capitalizing on every moment that comes their way. They have the most friends, and they just seem so happy ALL OF THE TIME. And even though we know that no one can be happy all of the time, seeing their happiness can sometimes lead us to question our own lives. We begin to compare our lives to theirs, wondering if we are truly on the right path. So the next time something great happens to one of us, we absolutely need to post it, just to let others know that we are also doing well.
Maybe I should have prefaced this in the beginning, but I write this not to condemn those who post their pictures and viewpoints to Facebook. It is something that is increasingly difficult to escape nowadays. But it is my hope that we can try to recognize a few things before we do decide to post.
This first is that we try to understand our motives. Are we posting because we simply want to share something valuable with those around us, or because we are trying to make people envious of our accomplishments?
The second is that we make enjoying the present moment our primary obligation. There is nothing wrong with wanting to share experiences with others on social media, but not if that is our only priority. We must also learn to keep some moments to ourselves, and to cherish them even if no one else knows about them. Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh once said, "The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it."
It is my hope that we will all be able to see the present, not for anyone else, but for ourselves and our internal well being.
