When was the last time you did something you loved?
Or as I like to call it, the onset of Instagram fatigue.
(PS. The views expressed here are personal.)
I’m tired.
Not physically, but mentally most of the times. Blame it on the pandemic. Blame it on personal situations. And blame it on myself for the mindless scrolling and the need to post something on social media whenever I’m take a break from work. It’s just getting exhausting.
Back when I got onto social media years and years ago (for me social media is now just Instagram), I had no idea it was going to lead to a situation where I was absolutely tired of the platform. Instagram was absolutely fun in the beginning; everyone just sharing photos, exploring inspiration without a care in the world. No one really cared about numbers, followers, reach, content or anything of the sort. But nowadays, it’s all I hear and see. And it’s getting on the nerves. Sometimes. Actually, a lot of times.
I partly blame myself also. I was taken over the idea of having a huge following, likes, numbers etc. and wanted to push myself. Over the past 2 years I was hyper aggressive on the platform; posting every single day, adding every tiny thing that happened to stories, working on extensive collaborations and more. I was basically working myself to the bone with work and the obsessed idea to make a mark on Instagram. I was driving myself to exhaustion without even realizing it. Posting every single day just for the sake of getting more follows, likes and comments. I never stopped to think about the toll it was taking on me.
10 months into the pandemic and working from home made me rethink my priorities. I got tired of the incessant craze of posting everyday, the need to create posts and stories (and now, reels! Seriously Instagram?) every single day just for the sake of posting for the gram. Call it the Instagram fatigue.
Post coming to that realization, I don’t stress myself out much these days with Instagram. I post when I want to, post whatever I create, and whatever gives me happiness. I take more time to create something that gives me all the great feels. Heck, I even post in progress shots of my artwork. I have learnt to have fun with the platform; not worry about the numbers, the aesthetics of my grid or the follows or likes (dropping almost a 1000 followers in 2 weeks didn’t really dent my feels, and I call that growth :D).
I encourage you too, to stop, take a chill pill once in a while and ask yourself, “ When was the last time I created something just for myself? Something I loved to do?” Something that is not perfect?” Give yourself the freedom every once in a while to explore something else, try something new and not go crazy about the numbers, the likes etc on the post. Hell, you don’t even have to post it. That can be just for you. I assure you, it’s a truly liberating experience. And over time you will learn to embrace it.
