Clout chasing is the unhealthy result with our obsession either status.
At a restaurant in London, I looked across the table to my friend spluttering noises from his mouth into discernible pieces of language. Murmuring the same thing, again and again, he chewed and spewed food until it became obvious that our friendship is anything but. We often spoke of interesting and pleasurable topics, from the density of food size appearing on our plates, it’s colour, it’s texture and taste to the happenings of sporting results, comedic rants, politics and the evils that roam within it. These days, not so much.
It’s as if the word ‘fun’ had changed into something else – something more sinister, secretly secreting within our brains to chase an obscenity we felt will bring happiness and disgustingly – power.
It wasn’t until I looked up, that I could see his demeanour had changed, the way he spoke shifted and his motivations were different. He was no longer my friend, but a potential colleague. From then on, our conversations were led by him, particularly regarding fad trends, crypto and share prices. We even delved into conspiracy theories full of conjecture.
Social media is piquing our interest in things we don’t enjoy.
It’s hard not to admit that social media is the dominating factor here. Without its existence, we would not feel pressured into doing the things we do. The modern adage of ‘for the gram’ is of course a proverb of a sad truth threading its way through the conscience of the young and old alike. And though there is nothing wrong with starting a business—for the most part, modern reasoning for doing so is derived from the target of social media’s approval.
As difficult as it is to admit, the essence of friendship can slip away into chasing the dream; dreams that turn into devoir and ‘I’m busy texts’. The need to be someone, often recedes the desire to be who we are, masticating through our lives like a cow in recently deforested ground, hoping to be a cash one, milking ourselves into something unnecessary for life.
How can we have fun?
Attempting to recall the last time we partook in activities of enjoyment, I struggled to muster a sense of what it felt like. In being motivated for comfort in industry, we sacrificed a friendship to achieve something that left no mark of example, except the unnecessary insatiability of excess finances.
If our goal is to turn the object of our affections into cash flow and portfolios, where do we all go from here? We needn’t do such a thing, if such a thing ruins our passions, our lives, our love, our self esteem, who we are and how we have fun.
Since the inception of the monetisation of everything, friendships have taken a downward turn; and so has happiness. It seems friendships are now a byproduct of the grind.
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