It's just been over a week I have started using Instagram again and I am already ready to leave it. The month of December 2020 was a period where I shared experiences with only the people physically around me. I was really enjoying it. I could see the people that decided the palette of thoughts in my head. I did things that I genuinely felt like doing. I was off social media.
January 1st, 2021, I logged in again. The first couple of days went alright. No surprises as such. From the 4th or the 5th day, I started to feel sad. First could not even realize why. But I knew I was not feeling like myself from Back in December.
I still gave time to process that feeling and find it's real source. After putting some thought into it I was introduced to the problem. As clear as it was from the start, the magnitude of it made it really a child's play to understand why I felt sad.
I am a Video creator, that's my identity on Instagram. And obviously, I am not the only one. Looking at my fellow creator's progress in the month of December, pinched me with a bit of regret. I saw what everyone made and what new they learned while my account stayed dry.
Now the twist here is, though this made me a bit upset for not being around for December, it was more of like motivation to make even better videos this year! I was pumped up in that warrior mentality! I was ready to just yell "THIS IS SPARTA!" and make some amazing videos.
But there was something that stopped me, Coming to the title, "MULTITUDE OF COMPARISON". When I was putting more time to make sure I start this year with a whole new level of energy, Social media did its thing! Showed me what my friends were up to. Some were out partying, some going on trips with their groups and a whole new level of regret hit me. These friends who I go to college with were off having the time of their life and here I was trying to show a bunch of creators who were 9-10 years older than me that I am also good enough.
I shared this with my brother and we started discussing it. He usually tells me to not compare myself with others because it just slows me down. But when I told him about my inner spartan for making better videos, the topic was not about comparison anymore.
Is Comparison bad?
If you wanna be good at something it's natural to have some level of competitiveness with other participants. If that comparison was motivating me to get into a flow then it was technically helpful.
The comparison that we talk about when it comes to social media is usually about things that are secondary. As my brother made me later realize, This is the way of life I chose for myself. I could have been out partying and having fun because why not, College life should be LIT right?
The Problem emerges from the imbalance in self-expectation. I wasn't feeling bad because my friends were out partying, or that other creators were getting better while I wasn't. The main reason, the real reason behind me feeling sad was the opposite nature of the things I was comparing myself with. One made me wanna work hard while the other wanted me to go partying in Goa. I wasn't happy because I wasn't sure what to find a solution for.
Lesson:
We all are individual and distinct human beings. With the rise of the internet and social media, we have been brought closer to people who have made different choices in life. It definitely helps to see the world from someone else's perspective but with time certain perspectives and ways have been made the right ways or cool ways of living. We get to see the best of everything. While someone has a great body, while someone is constantly traveling, someone is in an amazing relationship, someone has the most modern apartment, someone is living in peace on a farm...and so many other things! I hope you see my point here. This is really a lot to take in for one individual. And this multitude of comparison is what is leading most of this generation into sadness.
Select your path and stick to it. Enjoy social media as a fictional story. There are many characters with different choices but your choices will define who you are.
This one was a tough one to get into words. I really hope I did a decent job at it! I would love to know your perspective on this topic.
Happy reading!
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