In life, we believe we have multiple desires. Whether that is to achieve a specific amount of likes on a post, achieve a 4.0 GPA, or win the next football game. Nevertheless, deep down in our souls, we only have one desire— to live. In our journey we call life, we adapt passions, applying them to our identity and our everyday activities. Passions are what drive us. They are what push us to continue living and to fulfill our fundamental desire to live. Without passions, are we living or just existing? In the present circumstances, most exist.
As time has progressed, technology has become more pervasive in everyday life. Especially in those of adolescents. Social media is rapidly trend-setting, influencing, and luring, causing adolescents to delve into a trance of addiction and collectivism. I’ve come to realize that humans have forsaken their passions, leaving their individuality behind before even grasping their identity. We’ve abandoned what makes us human, what gives breath to our lives— all for Social Media.
Modern technology has a psychological impact on those who use it. Psychologists profess that it shapes identity, forming a version that depends on social acceptance, tendency, and impression management. There has been a decline in creative expression compared to the 1990’s, when digital technology was less prominent in teenagers’ everyday use. Teenagers once composed music, wrote poems, and created meaningful art. Teenagers now diminish their potential and spend time tapping on a phone. Society now focuses on simple pleasures, devaluing what truly matters, what drives us to live. Passion and individuality.
“School is shortened, discipline relaxed, philosophies, histories, languages dropped, English and spelling gradually neglected, finally almost completely ignored. Life is immediate, the job counts, pleasure lies all about after work. Why learn anything save pressing buttons, pulling switches, fitting nuts and bolts?” Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. Ballentine Books, 1953
Open your eyes, put the phone down, and sit and think. Allow boredom to plunge into your life. Boredom is when thought is provoked, when your mind grows, and human distinctiveness begins. “Social media is free, because you pay for it with your time,” Ambrosi, Doni asserts. Allow time to wander, reflect on what you love, and let your passions permeate every aspect of your life. In seventy years, we will all look back at our lives through a lens of judgment— make certain that your life is filled with living rather than existence. Time is still young.
