Living in a material world, when you're not a material girl.
Photography: freestocks.org
Written by Mia Saffer
So, here we are. This is where your scrolling led. You’re in for a treat.
For the purpose of this article I’m going to assume that majority of the people reading this are in fact, a Millennial, Gen Y, or Gen Z. If not, good on you.
We have been blessed with the bittersweet title of being born smack bang in the age of the internet, the age of the smart phone and really, the age of social media.
It wasn’t our fault we had dial up internet and very difficult step-by-step conference calls to guide us to a realm of high expectation. We were only working with what life threw at us. But hey, we ended up in the digital era and we’re doing our god damn best to navigate this over saturated space. It’s chock-a-block full of marketing, narcissism, bikinis, a cute brunch spot, Steph Claire Smith getting engaged, and occasionally a dog who is more popular than all of us put together.
Alas, I’m not saying all that comes with being online is negative – but I’m here to share my take on the two types of people surviving through it.
Person one: someone ogling over unrealistic expectations on Instagram which can lead to a desire to be someone you’re not, wanting things you don’t have, struggling to “keep up” and thus leading to anxiety… depression… a maxed-out credit card.
Or, on the complete opposite end of the spectrum…
Person two: an extremely resilient, savvy navigator of this interweb, who has learned to stay in their own lane.
The lines are blurred.
NB: This piece is aimed to inspire person one. Person two just carry on being the adaptable, non-consuming hippy that you are.
But, never fear! My point is… We. Can. Do. This. We can overcome the weight of the materialistic world we’ve fallen into.
Sure, you hear about switching off, and making time. But this really is important in maintaining a healthy balance in a space that doesn’t switch off. I read a great meme once (this is how we’ll quote great people in the future) that said something along the lines of, no-one says brb anymore because we never leave, we live here now.
LEARN YOUR CUES. I used to sit on IG in the morning and scroll through like it was the news. Now I spend 10 minutes writing back to messages, DM’s and text messages then I spend the rest of my commute generally reading the REAL news.
GET OFF THE STORY. My max is about 5 stories. I’ll jump on Instagram and watch one or two stories, but once I get to five, I jump out and carry on with my life.
REALITY CHECK. Sometimes you can get really deep on a chain of people’s IG profiles. One cute girl leads to 10 other cute girls and next minute you’re stalking someone’s Europe holiday that you’ve never met. Reality check – step away.
I’m no whiz, I’m just here to impart wisdom, and my best advice is… if you belong to the person one category, repeat to yourself… “stay in your own lane” and don’t compare yourself to anyone, or their ridiculously famous pets.
Who knows, maybe the next era will be Amish, and we can churn our own butter. For now, step away from the new shoes.