In a society where being an overachiever, having a full schedule, pulling all-nighters, and so many more potentially negative long term actions are being praised and pedestalize as the model for being a hard-worker, those of us who can’t keep up with trend are regarded as below average or somehow lazy. And god forbid you decide to opt out of that stress because then you are just someone who is settling.
With the rise of social media and the emergence of digital platforms that have created new avenues for work such as social media influencers, bloggers, content creators and so many more, it just starts to feel like any time that you are sitting at home and doing nothing is a missed opportunity to “get a bag”. This movement has arguably single handedly reestablished working from home as a good amount of work like editing, filming, and taking pictures can be done there (of course with respect to times where scouting location, aesthetic, and other factors come into play). However, I do believe that like anything in life, it can be a double edged sword.
Social media, with respects to its positive aspects, has become a doorway for people to get a very calculated view into people’s lives. And for many, has become a new source for burgeoning insecurity and self-loathing because people can now see other people have and enjoy the things they wanted for themselves. They now have a direct (albeit unrealistic) source of comparison which only resulted in lower self-esteem in people, while simultaneously serving as a distraction that is stripping their focus away from their own life. I would argue that it even perpetuates a loss of autonomy or volition.
An article on elastics.com said that “mental health concerns have increased in children and young adults. The rate of adolescents reporting symptoms of major depression in a given year increased by 52% from 2005 to 2017. From 2009 to 2017, it grew by 63% in adults ages 18 to 25.”
I know you may be asking why I’m telling you information that you may already know and how this is related to you being average, well… It has a lot to do with this information.
We normally only need to feel bad about ourselves through the comparisons we make with the people around us. Now with social media, you could be comparing yourself to Suzette from France or Karly from California because you are no longer confined to your own little bubble.
Not to mention… and I’m sorry to say it, but there are people out there who are just that good at what they do.
The problem we are facing is instead of looking at the value and the pleasure we get from doing the one or two projects we love, we are focusing more on what others are doing and are as a result looking down at them rather than being appreciative.
What I am trying to say is we need to shift our focus from looking externally at others and instead diving inward to look for our own source of joy and happiness rather than the quantity of what we are putting out.
I realized that in modern day society there is a constant push for productivity, but what we don’t realize is we’re just going back to the old school mentality of focusing on work in order to survive. This was very much the case for many of the working class and poor societies in history.
So I ask you this, what is the real difference between the overworked and tired third estate of the eighteenth century french who revolted and where we are headed.
By focusing so much on productivity, we lose track of prioritizing a bit of leisure and what’s worse is we are putting our mental health at risk as a society. We are subconsciously being taught that the outcome of our productivity is more important than our own well-being. At some point, we will be overworking and straining ourselves just to get a chance to take it easy and relax.
I’m not saying not to be a worker, however, what I am saying is it is important to understand your limits. It’s okay that you do your best especially if your best is all you could do. For years I thought that in order for me to do something that mattered, I had to be better than those around me. What I have come to understand is that average is not a bad word. It just means I’m doing just as well as everyone else. And what we tend to forget is most people in the world are average.