Step Out and Touch Grass

I wrote this piece and left it in my drafts because I was not sure of the direction it was headed, but in the end, I convinced myself to put it out regardless. Every piece is not meant to inspire. Sometimes we write even when it makes no sense. Consistency is the currency for growth.

I grew up in the era of few mobile phones, and the internet was non-existent until my last days as an undergraduate. It is either you are watching television, listening to the radio, or reading something; these were the objects and sources of influence. The other sources were people around us and stories that were passed down by supposedly first-person encounters.

This digital era is ruled by the web. Everything, including creative ideas designed to connect with people, has to be online to survive. No one can discount how much technology has contributed to the advancement of mankind, and with time, the human race, along with culture, knowledge, and even religion, continues to evolve. However, the unintended consequences of an internet-driven age cannot be talked about enough, especially the weight of influence on our minds and the way addiction creeps up on you.

As seen on Twitter

As seen on Twitter

As seen on Twitter

The internet is also notably a source of income to millions all over the world. People practically have to live on the internet to survive and be validated. In the past, we would attribute such behaviors to gamers, but now it is a full-blown lifestyle. There are now things like calendars to help creators plot their business and engagement with the internet, but it is rare to calendar for spectators and doomscrollers. There are even resources to help creators thrive, but you can't compare that to things like time limits for spectators and full-time consumers.

Even apps that give time limits also have other nudges like "Extra 5 minutes, remove limit for the day..." right beside the pop-up when you have reached your set limit. When creators default on the rules, they swiftly remove them, and a page can be reported (sometimes maliciously), and it goes down. However, non-content-creating consumers have more leeway and incentives to keep on consuming because their attention is the currency and the oil that keeps the internet engine running.

We follow strangers online, and suddenly, their word becomes an unquestionable point of reference. Suddenly, certain human features are "ugly", your style of cooking passed down generations is no longer "good", you have to dress up a certain way to be IT, and you have to go on vacation to specific places for it to count as "travel content" worthy. Only some foods and brands of wines match those aesthetics that have been deliberately pushed as the "in-thing". I can go on and on about these internet standards and how they have skewed the logic of our everyday lives.

I wrote previously in an article about drawing the lines between personalities and principles because people can change. However, knowing what your foundational principles are can serve as signposts in your journey and purpose in life. As the saying goes, "If you don't know where you are headed, every direction is the right direction". There are too many people roaming the streets without knowing who they are, what they want, and what should matter. Freedom, liberation, feminism, empowerment, etc., have become words thrown around on the internet. It depends on who is talking and the context.

Thousands, if not millions, of content and discussions are put online, hoping to elevate these words as lived experience. Some of these you find valuable insight in, but there are just enough who describe bondage and addiction as "being free". Giving up beliefs, a lifestyle, and habits only to begin another one dictated by the opinions of others; justifying the suffering and maltreatment of one group over another because of how your thinking has been influenced.

Thinking you are on some kind of path to freedom, while your life and what you think matters is heavily dependent on your circle of influence on the internet. Your diet, what you wear, how you think, how you relate with people—basically everything is dictated by the people you have chosen to listen to and follow online.

Sometimes, folks become emotionally invested in some controversial online post, and it becomes deadly and personal. The architect of that post is probably in one corner, laughing about the madness happening under the post, and may cash in big from your engagement. While you got nothing, lost good relationships, and probably made enemies you did not need.

Folks can't even have an opinion about anything or the news. They have to check first what their favorite influencer, celebrity, politician, or religious leader is saying before they can weigh in with their thoughts. Some will even discard what they think is right or whatever opinions they have in their minds originally because they never see it as being worthy of expression. Literally taking the things these internet folks believe and say hook, line, and sinker—no questions asked.

The problem here is that too many folks don't recognize the bondage and addiction right inside their own lives. When you hear addiction, people quickly point fingers at people on the streets. You are part of the mob being brainwashed and used as a part of the agenda; you don't know it yet. In fact, too many can't and will never be able to fathom this reality.

I have to add that I am not invalidating anybody's stories or content or lived experience on these topics.

We watched TV in the past for limited hours, and then we listened to the news, and we were off to bed. These days, it is a a never-ending cycle of 24/7 streaming on different platforms. Everything has gone on screen, even books. Every time you pick up your phone or tablet to read, there is something pulling you to check the internet and see what your favorite is up to.

Not that this is bad; the problem here is that some will deviate to social media to check one thing, and then, before they realize, they are spending hours doomscrolling, jumping from one page to the next because the algorithm will keep suggesting something to you. Yet, folks don't recognize this as an addiction. When you spend so much time on the internet, you barely have a life outside, your relationships with people around you are deteriorating, you leave other important things in your life undone, you are unaware of your surroundings, and you are not creating content (for leisure, financial reasons, or whatever the purpose).

I recently thought back to those days before the internet. We had a life, and for many of us, we did not feel that urgency to check on strangers miles away before we thought about things and took actions. At least, speaking for myself. I was keeping journals with my thoughts about anything, including news headlines. Hence, that is not generalized because I am not here to say life was perfect then. Every era had its ups and downs.

Yes, many of us had the newspapers, magazines, radio, and television. We were on the streets, on the playgrounds, in the bush, and on fields, living and dreaming. The dire need or urgency or fear of missing out on things or trends or news on the internet was not common. You wanted to hear the juicy gossip, but you still had to get other things in your life going. We lived more in the present and were out every day "touching grass". The anxiety level and the fear of missing out just feel like they're at an all-time high. Too many folks are out there judging their lives based on what they see online. People can't hang out without phones, and they are compelled to share just about everything with strangers. It is alarming.

The burden of not recognizing the internet addiction is like an invisible burden millions are carrying on their backs daily. You think you are free in your thoughts, in your actions, and in your choices, but have you thought deeply about why you do the things you do, especially how you interact with social media? Can you stay a whole day, the entire week, without jumping on social media? If you were banned from the internet today, how well would you survive? Do you think you are addicted to being online?

If you were to make a list of the benefits of being on social media or using the internet versus the number of times you just go to scroll for pleasure, which side of the list would be longer? Also add all the accounts of strangers you follow online; how much of it is beneficial to you as a follower and your personal goals? Yes, we go online for the fun of it sometimes (life isn't always that serious), and that is okay.

My point here is how we think we are now free to do whatever, but the internet can become a bondage in ways we never imagine because we are not even thinking deep enough to see it.