Thoughts ran through my head as I thought about the early twentysomethings I knew. How they had such deep need to express and share their lives. And how they told everyone…and I mean, everyone<\/i> about how they were feeling and what they wanted to do. The instagramming. The facebooking. The texting.<\/p>\n
I think now: that is so overwhelming. It’s too much.<\/p>\n
Then I kicked myself.<\/p>\n
Because that’s exactly how I was like at that age. Even though it wasn’t that long ago. I was self-absorbed, self-centered, and so so overly anxious. Was I doing this right?<\/i> I kept asking myself. And I blindly tried so many things, while trying to find acceptance and and identity.<\/p>\n
And slowly I mellowed out.<\/p>\n
In college and graduate school, I distinctly remember spending hours upon hours on my computer. I would talk to multiple people in instant messages. Oddly enough, that behavior has barely translated to text messaging. I absolutely hate having conversations over the phone via text message. But I am stunned when people can’t engage in anything insightful through an instant message\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwhether it’s through the ancient AIM, gchat, and Facebook.<\/p>\n
I remember having the emotional connection built through words that I carefully typed on screen. I remember yelling, screaming, crying over those conversations. The I don’t think that we should be friends<\/i> and the Let’s not see each other again<\/i> and the dramatic I see you never<\/i> messages all exchanged. Those kind of things happened then when I was in my early and mid twenties. It’s probably the same, but in a completely different context\u00e2\u20ac\u201dof still images, of short “edited” video, and self-possessed messages of #yolo and #winning<\/p>\n
But most of all, I wonder why the word “detox” keeps coming up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Thoughts ran through my head as I thought about the early twentysomethings I knew. How they had such deep need to express and share their lives. And how they told everyone…and I mean, everyone about how they were feeling and … Continue reading