#selfie

A few weeks back, my friends and I were discussing the concept of a selife. What is a selfie? In simple terms, it's when one takes a picture of himself by clicking at the time; no timer, no anything..or at least that's my understanding.

However, we were looking at it from a different point of view. Do we take selifes because we are lonely? I mean, think about it...you're taking a perfect picture of yourself, just so that the other people (who look at the selfie) can appreciate it...unless of course you do not upload it on a social network...in which case...you just take selfies, for fun? I dunno.

On the other hand, maybe selfies help you increase your self confidence? I mean, you keep clicking pictures of yourself until you click the perfect one, where everything is flawless. That increases your self confidence, because for once, your mirror and the camera reached an agreement. However, there are also a variety of selifies...like "ugly selfies" and "tape selfies"...but let's not go there.

It's all a technology dominant world. Let's try and bring back the days of film roll cameras...where a picture was actually worth a thousand words...and not a loss of thousand words, like today. With that, I shall end with The Chainsmoker's parody on "selfies". Enjoy!

The Chainsmokers - #SELFIE

"We Are Entitled To Our Own Opinions"

In today's world, every argument ends the same, "We're entitled to our own opinions" or "That's your perspective!" and that's the end of that.

However, in certain aspects (take note that only in certain aspects and not all), does that barely matter. I believe that due to social networking, globalisation and well, technology in general, all our views are moulded into one. Everyone reads something online and everyone believes it.

We always complain about "that one idiot" who says something against what is posted, and we think his view is irrational or doesn't make sense. But you know what? He was man enough to post his opinion online. Many of us do not post our views online in fear of judgement from people, who follow the "social norms".

Of course, this isn't true for everyone. I'm just posting a thought. You're entitled to your own opinion.

What Hath Come Of the World?!

<insert dramatic face here>

I always complain about how my parents don't understand me because of the major generation gap. They don't understand why I am always on my phone...or laptop...or iPod...or anything really. They always ask me to make use of my time and do things constructively. Use time productively. Having aims and goals in life.So on and so forth.

I hated those long lectures. It's bad enough I have my own philosophical thoughts going on in my head, with my parents yapping away on the other end about reality of life.

But today, as I was reading an article about how one should live in their 20s (it was directed at the male audience, but I think readers are sane enough to generalise and adapt some of the points to our situation...or in this case, gender), I realised how correct my parents were.

What's stupid is, it was an article that made me realise this. What's sad is, we have people writing articles to tell us how to live. I mean, I don't think my parents, or their parents, or their parents' parents read articles and lead life. And they turned out to be perfectly fine!

Which is why I generally do not appreciate the media and technology. They influence our thoughts waaaaay too much and we start to have this weird cyber personality. I can talk a shit load here on my blog and on Facebook and Twitter, but stare at you like a wide eyed raccoon in person and say nothing.

Having said all that, it's ironic. Because I am a media student. And this is technology that I'm using to convey this message. What hath come of the world? Where it just goes around in circles? The quest for answers hath lost its meaning. There are no answers. Just circular journeys. 

Past and Present

The Past

1. Walking
2. Writing
3. Letters
4. Outdoor games
5. Long Distance Relationships
6. No "doing stuff" before marriage
7. In love only once
8. Eating a meal out once in a while
9. The thrill of going for a movie
10. Face to face conversations


The Present

1. Cars, Trains, Gyms, etc.
2. Typing
3. E-mails, chat, etc.
4. Video games
5. Break up
6. What's marriage?
7. In love a gazillion times
8. Eating a home cooked meal once in a while
9. Everything is available online these days
10. Facebook, Skype, etc.

Who said technology is better? Who said being practical is facing reality? The thrill of life was lived in the past. Today we're all just machines, abiding by society's rules. We are not who we are. We are what others want us to be. We have no identity because we are all one. You may think you are unique, but so is everyone else.

Technology may be efficient, but it has sucked out the human from us. It's sad I even have to blog about it, rather than talk about it with someone. 

Use and Throw

Having lived in this world for 20 years, I now know the value that people hold. Yes. Being 20 can make you wise. Okay, maybe not. But trust me, I  may know more at my age than my parents did when they were my age. This is all thanks to the developments in technology and something called "Google" that helps me search for everything...even ridiculous things.

Thanks to development, we are all self obsessed. Yes. I am too. This is why I have this blog. And 10 different profile pictures on Facebook of just me. Without anyone else. I am self obsessed. I like to tell my stories. I like to talk about my experiences. I like to take pictures of myself (please don't give me that look. I know you do too. At least I don't do it in the bathroom!). I like to update my Facebook status and get many likes. I like to see the number of followers on Twitter increase. I like to see the number of blog views increase. I AM SELF OBSESSED.

However, last night, I noticed how being self obsessed has turned me into someone I am not. It has changed me from that nice small town girl to some spoiled brat that only cares about...well...herself? It's not that I don't listen to other people's problems and stories. I do. But I immediately think of a story that relates to me. Which is sad.

This brings me to my next point. This post is not going to just criticize me; it's going to criticize all my friends too. Yes. You guys. Well not in specific. But you may want to think about it. The number of times I have tried to keep in touch with people is uncountable. But their side of the effort is not even 1/8th of mine. The number of times I have sent a 'good morning' message to my friends is again uncountable. But never once have I received the same. The number of times people have come to me for help is uncountable. But when I ask for the same, they're all busy.

I had a friend, 4 years back, who had the same issue with me. It was then that I told her, "In friendship, you don't expect the other person to return favours." Clearly I was wrong. It's not meant to be favours. If it is a favour, it's not friendship. All actions have to be based purely on care. In any relationship.

With that, I'll end by saying, do not ruin your character by getting too involved in technology. Give time for the reality of life to sink in. Because once reality hits you, you may not be able to face it.

NB: The examples given above are purely fictional. Please do not relate to them or find them offensive. 

HIGH EXPECTATIONS = HIGH DISAPPOINTMENTS

Is Life a Bitch?

Sometimes life can be a bitch. You do so many things that you regret…but you never realise the lessons they teach you. After all, you do learn from mistakes.

It’s never easy to go through a break up. It’s never easy to go through a fucked up break up either. You know; the ones where you have a misunderstanding and you have a huge fight. What makes it even worse? Social networks or let’s broaden it a little; the recent developments in technology from internet to cell phones to whatever else I am not aware of.

"My ex and I broke up about 4 and a- half years back. I still read the fucked up message he sent me when we broke up. What’s even more fucked up is that the message pin points on certain personal traits of mine; some that I reflect upon when I am introspecting; some that I know are my bad qualities. It’s bad enough when you know your negative qualities, but for someone to list them out and give them to you, that sucks. Major. And at the back of my mind, I am very much aware that I have access to a list of my shitty qualities, hidden deep in some Facebook message." - An Anonymous Friend.

Technology is a major contributing factor to many misunderstandings these days. Think about it. I easily get jealous when I see a guy I have a crush on with some other chic on Facebook, posing for sultry kind of pictures; Or when he comments on her pictures. Gah. What the hell? Back off bitch! See? If this is my reaction to a freaking guy I have a crush on, how would it be if he were my boyfriend?

"The problem with our generation is that we
are so dependent on technology..."
Photograph by: Jiyoon Kim

The problem with our generation is that we are so dependent on technology rather than our own feelings. We are willing to believe pictures, messages, wallposts, tweets and what not from various social networks, but we hardly trust the person. We judge people by their pictures, statuses, notes, etc. but we never give them a chance to explain themselves.

Lesson learnt? A rather cliché one…but never judge a book by its cover. To make it more understandable for our generation, never judge a person by their Facebook profile.

Life is a bitch. That’s only a belief. If you want to make it better, life is still a bitch. But a bitch gives birth to cute puppies. Life is a bitch. But it’ll give you those happy moments when you need them. Just don’t let petty things like technology ruin it for you. Technology didn't make us, we made technology.

"We're all afraid to speak up. So instead we assume, misunderstand, and complicate everything." - @wizdom