Last year around June, I removed myself from all social media platforms because it started to create deep anxious feelings in me. But during the last weeks of Dec 2020, I started to feel like I was ready to be a part of this world again. Anyways my hibernation did not really work.
A common thought is that most our problems comes from comparing our lives to others on social media and how staying away is a good solution. We also keep saying how bad social media is and how the number of followers does not somehow correlate with the real number of close relationships. There have been ten thousand plus blogs and a Netflix documentary already on this demon personality of Social Media. But there is also a positive side to it which is completely overlooked at times.
Sometimes, you also see people who really inspire you which secretly helps you push yourself towards positive goals in life. Yes, I agree that the same thing can at times also create this whirlpool of emotions if somehow the journey of that other person looks simper than yours. Right?
Even then there are times when something simple like a quote, a profile, a smiling picture, or for that matter, a sad post somehow stirs that lost excitement again. Of course, one would get those feeling when they somehow land up on a profile that shouts – my tribe.
Today, on this note I want to write about a friend of mine, Shilpi Siwach. She is an entrepreneur, traveler, lover, full of life, and a positive spark. But this is not all about her. She is also a fighter, a struggler, and has seen many mountains. The difference is , she wears her scars with proud and paints nice butterflies around the scars so they look even more attractive. There are only a couple of times when I have really seen her emotionally down and every other time she had been a tough beast fighting everything that can come her way.
In many ways, she inspires me, lifts me, and somehow she is always there. I wonder why as I often tend to get into this mellow mood and yes there have been times when I felt like her life is simpler than mine. Of course the moment I think this, I feel really bad but there are no frills here so yeah. The truth boils down to the decisions we take. She is bold and she takes tough decisions and I am, well, not that bold and often get stuck in my own thought for more than I should. She is an extrovert and I am an introvert still I know in my bones that all the differences apart, she is my tribe.
There is one other thing about her. She attracts her tribe super well and I am glad I am a part of that. Often times when I meet people she interacts with, I get this weird sense of life that I am completely ignoring. Its the simplicity of just accepting the failure yet never ever giving up. It is being present and accepting your own self in front of the world.
Last month during her wedding , I met one of her friends who was a magnet of happiness, we will call her Miss Sunshine here and she is famously known as Sadaf. She was not only warm and friendly and had many exciting stories to share but she was a living example of LIFE. Ever wonder what happens when you really decide to live? Then you really live and radiate this energy onto everyone else around you. You pull them out of their deep slumber and somehow you have them in your spell. I was in her spell. First, my friend shilpi who is this ball of positive energy, and then her friend, Miss Sunshine. That day when I was going back home, I was reminiscing how beautiful life is and was questioning the dark box in which I had locked myself. I kept thinking about how I can be more like her and it is not like I want to behave like her or talk like her but I just want to be happy and be in the moment and see the joy in little things. Finally, my thoughts led me to start this daily series for 2021 to capture the little moments of joy that I often overlook. So thanks Miss Sunshine for this new spark.
What happened today was also great and again I have my friend Shilpi to thank. I had somehow again slipped into that dark zone and no matter how hard I was trying, I was just not able to pull myself out. I happen to see a new post on her Instagram and I saw this girl who was radiating love and happiness in that picture, let us call her Miss Doodly Doo. I swear to God, I had this ‘Walter Mitty’ experience where for almost a few seconds I started to imagine what she must have done just before clicking this picture? She would be laughing and trying to pose with a book or she was just goofing around? What if I was there then I would be laughing too. So thank you Miss Doodly Doo for taking out these moments from your life to share beautiful thoughts and posts. Yes, I did go on this rabit hole of seeing who she is and how she has this energy about her.
I think there is no right answer to why someone is happy. Its not that they ae extrovert or introvert, successful or struggling, in a relationship or single, wealthy or getting there. The difference probably is just the sum of all the small decisions they take each day, flaunting their scars and being present in the moment.
Elizabeth Gilbert once said -“when you set out in the world to help yourself, sometimes you end up helping Tutti.”