Life of Simplicity and Focus
I have A Song of Ice and Fire book set lying in my shelf for eight years now. I remember the last time I took out the first volume and finished it within a week's time, even though I had watched Game of Thrones diligently. Reading felt surreal then. Concentration levels were higher and I could sit through reading sessions, despite my phone pinging with messages on Facebook Messenger and Instagram.
Now, it is different, and it has become obvious over time. My exposure to social media is driven by work, consuming more information on topics I find fascinating, observing posts and engagement, likes and clicks. It has created a void which has me in free fall endlessly. I miss the long term surreal engagement. I miss feeling empty after completing a series or a book. I miss long hours of concentration without my phone.
To alleviate this, I started writing on this platform. It helps me gather some time to myself, structure my thoughts, concentrate on my writing, and just flow through everything in my head in one go. Even if nobody reads it, it helps me clear my head and builds the surrealism for me, from my learnings, in whatever limited time I have spent living. I hope I can continue this, without constraining myself to "write everyday" just for the sake of it.
Sometimes, I feel social media has done more bad than good. We have too much interference, too much content, too much junk going in our heads.
Where is our life of simplicity? I miss it.