i think it’s time for us to get off social media.
you are a brand online. and if you’re not the brand, you are the product.
it’s in everyone’s best interest to put our best faces on online. it’s the only thing we actually have any control over in life.
your behavior sometimes exhibits that perfectly. have you ever opened up incognito mode to search for something or access a certain website? god forbid anyone wanna know you might have looked up “is 2 girls 1 cup real?”
most people aren’t going to show you their flaws – they’re gonna take the same picture 6 times in a row, post the right angle, apply the right filter, right hashtags, and finally, 45 minutes later – the perfect picture.
good online social presence is an art.
if you’re a sympathy seeker, you’re probably a pro at posting statuses or photos that would garner attention from your online “friends.”
me personally, i’m not gonna post myself piss ass drunk, depressed, ranting about my insecurities, not on instagram anyway. that’s what this podcast is for.
i usually just post whatever might get a laugh because i like to do that, or post an occasional selfie because i felt cute that day.
so knowing that everyone is not being their 100% authentic selves online, why do we allow ourselves to get so caught up in our perception of others people’s lives, to the point where it affects our happiness and ability to make rational decisions?
“keeping up with the joneses” which has apparently morphed into “keeping up with the kardashians”, is a real thing even amongst us non-homeowning non gen-x’ers. instead of lusting after our neighbor’s pool and built in patio grill, we want other’s experiences.
“mommy, but i want it now.”
everyone else’s experiences are so beautiful and wonderful and worth living, so we do what we can to experience the same thing, even if it means forcing ourselves to struggle, uprooting our families because we want what everyone else has instead of being content what we do have.
this is a problem because people don’t fully understand that experiences cost both money and sacrifices. we justify it by saying “EVERYTHING costs money, the universe will provide everything for me,” which is just as shortsighted as saying “god got me.”
if this is you, i’m not attacking your belief system. yes, it’s true, ultimately, everything will be okay. but how much did you have to lose in the process? can you ever get back to where you were before you cut all the human ties you’ve built up over your life?
of course you can. unless you have lots of demons and no common sense, you should have enough faith in your skills and abilities that you don’t even have to doubt yourself. but is it worth the insane amount of debt? was it something you even wanted in the first place, or was it the shiny object you saw on instagram that you didn’t even know you wanted until you saw it?
fomo or bust. we all have a fear of missing out on something. but you need to make sure that something is even worth it. how much is that thing going to positively impact your life? how much is it going to hurt your bank account and how long is it going to take to pay it off?
so just think about it. before you sign that new car lease, before you have that baby or take that trip to italy, think about whether the sacrifice is even worth the payoff, and if you’re dragging somebody else along for the ride, make sure this is what they want too.
speaking of being a brand online, you can listen this podcast and a buttload of music over on ramblinvanradio.com. this has been my pet project since the end of last year, and i’m working on adding original material every day and creating a lifestyle for you van lifers, music lovers, truckers, travelers, whoever listens to this.
thanks for being awesome and thanks for listening.