I’m on my 76th day and I am determined to get to the finish line – and then what? Just so it checks off as a project completed, no loose ends hanging… it’s my inflexible Singaporean in me going about task lists.
There’s been alot of anti-100happydays hate lately from articles to friends on my Facebook feed denouncing this idea of unrealistic, banal self indulgence – really what social media is about and makes the marketing world go round in this day and age. I see some people sharing extensively and honestly about their lives and others bragging about their amazing lifestyles. No judgement here – there’s a free and easy to share medium, so much room for content (and strategy if done right leads to amazing opportunities one can monetize) to fill our empty souls with social media brags.
I do agree that it’s an exercise that’s a waste of time – because yes, we need to live and enjoy the moment rather than worry about capturing it in a snap… unless you’re obsessive compulsive and never living the moment, I’m all for instagramming.
If we take a moment to think about whether we’d rather be looking for 1 happy thing a day to post to remind ourselves of living everyday mindfully or slagging people for the social brag? I’d choose the former, I have been through times of negativity and after all that NPL and self work in the last couple of years, I don’t want to go back to those angry self absorbed navel gazing LiveJournal ways with so much teenage angst and felt the world owed me a living. I’m done with feeling and living Philip Larkin, Plath and making those intense thoughts and emotions a focal point – which admittedly have been catalysts for many of my creative spurts. While I feel increasingly less creative over the years with this new found self peace and more grounded (read:old) these days, I miss my interesting old random self, but in hindsight I’ve so much grown as a person, I’m no longer a prisoner of my self imposed misery.
With NLP and mindfulness, you can probably catch so many phrases of negativity and loathing in this piece. Social media is public – so if you don’t like don’t read, if you’re annoyed with someone’s constant feed, block it or unsubscribe. It’s your perogative, why whinge about it when you have a options to unsubscribe, unfollow and mute?
Most photos don’t need that #100happydays hashtag anyway, something’s beautiful, focus, appreciate and capture the little details – an exercise in mindfulness and awareness, and sharing nice photos (subjective and relative of course) rather than a banal self brag. There’s so much crap on the internet, as an intelligent adult, haters can easily filter through the clutter instead of seeth in their misery and envy, then write hateful bitter things about other seemingly happy people. Life’s not perfect and everyone wants to present a good side of how they’re enjoying life – but hey, I’m a firm believer of fake it until you make it, better to look at what you have, rather than sit in the cesspit of envy and think about what you don’t have.
These days, I’d rather be happy clappy and grateful for more good things to come, rather than entertain my feelings of envy which appears to be the stem of all that #100happydays hate. Life is not perfect, but there are plenty of little simple happy things to be grateful for and it’s a free world to share that on social. Who cares if nobody cares? And if nobody really cares, what’s all that bitter barking about? These people should take a leaf out of Mastin Kipp’s The Daily Love to start living for themselves, rather than spend time griping about other people’s feeds. Really, none of those happy self-absorbed people care about what you think.
So, chill the fuck out and Zen out. Oh yarh, maybe try to live a little and read some of Louise Hay‘s wise words too.
