Earlier this year, I resolved to be less connected on social media because I was struggling to pry myself away from the screen. I successfully stayed off for five months, but about a month ago, I decided to reactivate my Facebook account. The reason was simple: I missed my relatives and distant friends. I missed chatting with them and getting updates about their lives. However, those five months of being unplugged made me wiser.
In the past, I lacked the discipline to step away from the screen, but now I'm more mindful of the information I consume. I ignore most of the negative content and focus on connecting with friends and family. I also check in on my mental health regularly and ask myself if I'm affected by the information I consume. If I am, I step away for a day or two and return to social media when I feel better.
Social media isn't inherently bad; it's all about how we use it. It can be a wonderful tool for staying connected with loved ones, but it can also become detrimental if we allow ourselves to get sucked into the rabbit holes of endless information. Balance and discipline are key.
This week's prompt from the Blockchain Poets community is "connectivity". Here's the link to the prompt post: BlockchainPoets Weekly Prompt - Connectivity
I was hesitant to participate in this week's prompt, but then I realized it closely relates to my recent experience with social media. So, after a long and tiring day, I sat at my desk with a notebook and began to write this poem, "Paradox of Connectivity."
And here is the completed poem:
Paradox of Connectivity
We live in a time where
invisible threads link us
from room to room, screen to screen.
We share our lives in snapshots,
curated moments of joy and laughter,
a stream of images and words
flowing faster than we can grasp.
We text, we tweet, we emoji our feelings,
compressed into bits and bytes,
conversations stripped of meaning,
emotions flattened into pixels on a screen.
We are here, yet not here,
present in the virtual, absent in the physical,
shallow interactions, surface-level connections,
we know each other’s lives but not our souls.
A thousand friends online,
still loneliness creeps in,
with the pressure to be always available,
the anxiety of unread messages,
the fatigue of constant alerts.
We compare our insides to others’ outsides,
scrolling through galleries of best moments,
feeling the sting of inadequacy,
the ache of connection without communion.
But there is hope in balance,
in the choice to unplug and reconnect,
to find meaning in shared experiences,
to speak with our voices, to listen with our hearts.
We rediscover true connection
in the quiet of a coffee shop,
in the laughter of a shared meal,
in the embrace of a friend long missed.
Let us be mindful of the ties that truly bind,
for in the paradox of connectivity,
we hold the power to bridge the distance,
and turn shallow waters into deep oceans.
That's it for now. If you read this far, thank you. I appreciate it so much! Kindly give me a follow if you like my content. I mostly write about making art, life musing, and our mundane yet charming family life here in Klang Valley, Malaysia.
Note: All images used belong to me unless stated otherwise.
Thank you for visiting and reading my post. I hope you like it!
Nice perspective.. Good exposition.
Thank you 🙏
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Thank you 🙏