social life – Rosie Culture

As an introvert, I really struggle to find a happy medium of social and alone time in my life. Mostly because if it were up to me, I’d be alone ALL the time. But that’s not really healthy and there are so many people in my life that I care about enough to put in the effort of breaking free of my introvert lifestyle.

And it’s kind of frustrating because in a way I have all these dreams and aspirations to do more and I think my introverted personality along with sheer laziness just keep me in this boring middle ground of wanting more but not really wanting to do more. I wrote a post about it and was reminded of the yes theory by sparkle in my eye.

So now I’m saying yes (within reason). I said yes to a trip to Orlando where 90% of my time would be alone time in a strange place and traveling back home alone which I get very nervous about. I said yes to a whole lot of Instagram collaborations that required a lot of time and forced me to create a calendar and execute. I said yes to my first blogger event that I dragged my friend to because I was wayyyy too nervous to go alone. I said yes to talking in my Instagram stories and showing my face in a real way. I said yes to a new gym to help boost my fitness morale. I said yes to booking up my first two weekends in April even though back to back plans usually stress me out.

All these things I said yes to don’t seem like huge steps, but they are the steps that are going to get me back into the direction of doing more things that I love. And I’m going to say yes to more things. I made my spring bucket list longer than all of my other lists because I really want to push myself to do the things I love but am too apathetic. I’ve settled in a place I don’t want to be, so it’s time to motivate and move forward.

What’s one thing you’ve said yes to lately?

Likes, favorites, retweets, comments, and all those weird emotion things Facebook just added.

We live for instant gratification. It’s not because we’re selfish, it’s because of the Internet. It’s because we not only have to look great in person but we also have to look great online. There is more than one impression to make and you never know when you are going to have to make it. You know when you’re going out to a bar to meet up with all your friends and look for cute guys. But, you never know when someone’s going to request you as a friend on Facebook or follow you on Insta. You could make a great first impression in person, but might totally bomb when your first impression online is break up quotes and pictures of wine.

It always looks like everyone else is having so much fun. They add all of their vacation pictures to an album for the world to see. They Instagram the amazing brunch they’re having that Saturday morning. They’re tweeting about the great party they want to. And you’re in your bed eating ice cream and talking to your dog, throwing out likes to everyone and wishing you were invited.

You can see all your friends and all of your “friends” having a life without you. Even when you do go out and have fun, it’s not gratifying because there’s always someone else doing something else. Someone who has more likes on their picture or chose a better filter.

The Internet is a lonely place. Everyone’s searching for instant gratification but no one is willing to reach out.

No matter how many followers I have, I still get lonely. The Internet doesn’t offer you a true “good job” and pat on the back when you get a promotion. The Internet doesn’t offer you sincere condolences and a hug when someone dies. The Internet doesn’t cry from laughing at your jokes or binge eat pizza with you when you’re sad. But still we avoid people and face to face interaction. We still flock to the Internet to show everyone how happy we are when we are, in fact, completely lonely.