From Sharmaji_ka_beta to follow_your_ passion and the nothingness later
If I were to write about one characteristic befitting the nature of our age and times — the millennial’s 2010s, this generation of humble brags who woke while spilling the tea — then that one characteristic on fleek would indisputably be convenience.
We are living, breathing and sinking into an age of convenience.
Stay put, this is going to be long fun read.
We will get to convenience, but first —
#throwback to #Sharmaji_ka_beta
Having been raised in an achievement-focused environment, where you were special only if you stood first in class or were the best in sports or exceptional in something else, beauty perhaps, where you only mattered if you beat relativity…. having being raised in such an achievement-focused environment, peeps of my era, from a very early age have been aware of their standing in the society. Toppers know their worth, and so do back-benchers. Pretty hoomans know they are beautiful, the ugly ones are repeatedly reminded of their plainness. We all know where we lie in the pecking order. Even if we don’t wish to know or choose to ignore, we are subtly nudged towards the classification equilibrium.
#follow_your_passion
Now cement this stratification with 24 X 7 influx of success stories from around the world — youngest genius invents something groundbreaking, some college drop-out disrupts something else, the best singer of our times is discovered on youtube, girl from small town makes it big, boy from nowhere instagrams his way to millions , following their passion how someone else earns billions — and what you — what you and I — have, is access to possible futures which can be ours if only we play our card rights, if only we take that chance or catch that lucky break, if only we listen to our hearts and do our own thing. As if the pressure to conform didn’t suffice, now we have to bear the pressure of success because it just isn’t Sharmaji ka beta anymore who is rich and successful; it is every person with an internet connection( and this person’s success story is choking the bandwidth of my/our peaceful existence).
But it isn’t just about the success stories or the white man?
No.
It is also about the filter-perfect lives of our social contacts and the FOMO, which has us incessantly documenting our trivialities in the deception that they are special. And let’s not forget the worth game — how our sense of self is tied to the likes, comments, and shares our social display of achievements garner.
Incessant documenting of our trivialities. Heh.
We have become too self-aware. From our out-of-the-bed looks to our evening pouts, from our check-ins to our activities, from going live to snapping the shit out of our days.
Everyone, each one of us, has taken to narcissism as if it were oxygen. We all want stories, we all want things to happen to us, and then we want to put these up in the virtual world, and we want to shout out, “Look what happened with me, look I sky-dived, look how awesome I look in this dress posing in front of a bathroom mirror clicking my own goddamn photograph”.
We have become too busy becoming the centres of our universes. We think we are special, we want to feel special, each one of us. Do you see the paradox it creates? If everyone is special, then everyone is the same. Uniqueness has become the norm — my life my job my love my passion my story….what a load of crap. Technology has been a propellant for collectively hurling humanity into the stereotypical delusion of purpose. Advancements create cultures. And ours, my dear people, is that of convenience.
I hear you, Preeti, you say, but I don’t yet see the correlation to convenience.
I am not finished yet. And the reasoning isn’t linear.
We have become fixated on what we get out of the system, on what we make out of our lives. Of how we can make the most of it. A clear reflection of the way we do business, ain’t it? Maximizing the shareholder’s wealth, we want to maximize, we want the best deal! Oh, and we want it quick! We want it now! Instant gratification.
We want to be heard. We want our stories to be special. We want those likes. We want to have a purpose. We want to do great things. We want others to know that we are doing great things. That we have good lives. We want to be validated. The focus is I, I, I, me, me, mine, mine, mine. Facebook did for selfishness what Ayn Rand couldn’t.
The multiplicity of purposes has each one of us looking out for what best fits our narrative, for that which completes it.
Now, of course, you would reason that because we, each one of us wants to have a purpose, people would be willing to push harder and farther, and thus, this entire hullabaloo about convenience is unfounded, but wait, it really isn’t, is it?
The multiplicity of purposes has each one of us looking out for what best fits our narrative, for that which completes it. That which doesn’t is disregarded, discarded, disrespected. Selfishness, in this case, has given rise to apathy. No one really cares about being kind off the record. No one wants real experiences that can’t be documented and shared. No one will lend a helping hand if the end result doesn’t serve their objective. We all want to take the easy way because we are shit scared of what might happen in case it doesn’t work out, in case we fail, in case Sharmaji ka beta makes it better than us. We yearn to do great things, but we also want to play it safe. Risking within our comfort zones. Pushing the boundaries only till where it is beneficial.
In this process, we have created a cruel and cowardly world. We have sacrificed our heroes at the altar of ease. We don’t laugh that often. We rarely smile. We cry when we are alone. No one listens any more. We are too scared and anxious, watching out for our own selves.
I am sorry. The world has gone to shit, and there is nothing I can do. It’s not easy, you see.
Thank you for reading. If you liked/hated what I wrote, if you could connect with it or if you laughed somewhere in between, please hit clap, or send me a note, or leave a comment. My next article is about Finding your White Noise — How to make Paradoxes work for you; hit follow to get in your feed first. Thank you.
