Two Extremes: Missing The Ordinary

Why are everyday stories very mundane to some people, especially on social media? I post regular everyday things, and I see near zero engagement, but the day I post something extremely sad or an achievement, all the troops show up. Hence, I resolved to stay steady on everyday stories and enjoy my life's journey. Granted, I am not a celebrity, and some of my accounts are private, so there is that part.

Everyday stories are still worth sharing

It's either you find people engaging with extremely over-the-top happy stories or downright sad tragedies. I struggle to understand the reluctance to enjoy simple things, or should I be asking why regular things feel boring? We have become a society that does not know how to enjoy simple everyday things.

We love and trust the things we know

There is enough argument that the familiar can be boring, but too many people struggle to give up that familiarity. Change is more difficult than we would like to admit. For example, you can see there are already enough remakes or sequels of old favorite television series and movies. More flop in the box office ratings, but it is no deterrent to planned production. So I wonder why ordinary and familiar things should be boring.

My theory is that this behavior of being bored with everyday stories we can even relate to in our lives may be because we have become wired to see no motivation or fascination with the ordinary unless people are doing outrageous, outlandish, and controversial stuff online.

doing the most can be exhausting

In a way, that desperation to be accepted by strangers online can make people push themselves to create the kind of content for an audience groomed to function at two extremes. of happiness and sadness; to be invested in the kind of aesthetics that is not "ordinary," but how far can you sustain the push to be that extra? I understand there is money to be made on social media, so you need to give people what they want, but that in itself is exhausting. Even when people say "simple", you know there is already too much work invested in making simple things look simple.

Considering every human is unique, even when we want similar things sometimes, our ordinary selves should be contained with a sense of appreciation before we even push for the extremes to be accepted because to exist is to be within a cascade of emotions.

Simple things

The other thing is that being used to these extremes can make simple things emotional. Shedding tears over babies, excited about people hugging, or running after animals. The pressure to not be ordinary makes people do the most when presenting simple things and use complex vocabulary to describe common things. It is just exhausting sometimes. Even when we repeatedly crave those extremes—looking for people doing the work to give us that adrenaline rush of extreme happiness or sadness—a part of us still clings to the things we already know.

Cover photo from Unsplash - Jon Tyson