These Boring, Pursuits

The members of the groups that the writer is into, aren’t aimed at getting the hits, but in expressing themselves, just, living their, ordinary, lives…translated…

Of the mainstream social media cultures, I’m a member of Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, which was just out last year.  FB allows for the space for the written and the illustrated, many of us had been using for more than a decade on end, and now, it’s said, that only old people use it. IG is mostly centered around the images, and in wholly, it’s appeasing to the visual more, from the highlights that began with IG, the uniqueness about this, is that in twenty-four hours, whatever on the highlights would be gone out of other’s sight, totally in contrast with FB’s functions of “This day last year”, one was gone without a trace, the other, worth remembering.  As for the newest Threads, it’d felt more like that rushing river, next to impossible to find what we’d once, posted on it, and at the same time, it’d allowed for the in-the-moment communication means.

Although, many would say, that FB is a thing of yesteryear, but, the group function can make me feel, that I’m, irreplaceable.  It extended to almost, every area of, interests, you can find someone to connect with based off of the interests that you have.  Recently, I’d gotten into a group that look up at the clouds, and every day I’d turned on my cell phone, then I got a glimpse of the clouds everywhere in the world.  The clouds were sometimes cute, at others, majestic, the rainbows, the clouds getting dyed by the light of the sun, and the “Light of Jesus”, it occurs daily, like the buffet, never ending, with a wide variety.  It’d taught me, that other than the skies I’m living under now, the heavens are putting on that show every second of every single day, free of charge.

the group’s “cover page” on FB, I think, and it’s called “Dull Women’s Club”…photo from online

Another group that kept my interest was “The Must-Share Weird (but Interesting) Findings of the Second-Hand Discoveries”.  There’s a group of Europeans and Americans who loved shopping at the flea markets, the secondhand shops, who’d shared passionately their findings.  Some of the items that were worn out, were aesthetic to breathtaking.  And the finders would tell where the items were spotted, the cost, and if they got the items home or not.  And if they took the items home and photographed the object, they would measure the items by the length of a, banana, that seemed to be the unwritten rules of Europeans and Americans.

I’m really impressed with this group of curious, observant, full of humor strangers-friends on FB. Several years ago, at the height of the pandemic, they couldn’t go out anymore, but, someone from the group had a brand new, idea, they’d turned to treasure hunting when they’d gone out on the strolls.  During that period of time, in the group, they would share the broken limbs of the dolls they’d discovered, walking into the woods, the ancient toys, or the accessories, it was kind of funny, yet, moving, and it’d made me understood, that the optimistic and the curious, no matter what sort of an environment they’re living in, spending money or not, they can still find something interesting and fun, and live according one’s own, personality, traits.

The most recent group I got involved in was the “Boring Women’s Club”.  As the members introduced themselves first, they would usually open with, “I’m bored out of my bones, living an ordinary life.”, but maybe, it’s this, sort of a making fun of oneself, the sense of humor, that’s drawn me into reading the profiles of these members.  A woman told, that she lives in the distant country side, and is living on a farm with the animals and plants, day after day, didn’t make any changes, felt, that it would be fine, if she’d stayed there forever.  Another woman from a small town, told that she worked during the daytime, and watched T.V. at night, then, went to bed early, her hobbies are knitting and reading, and she felt that it was, enough, she’d not wanted any, excitement at all.

The ladies would post pictures of themselves doing things at random, like that half-finished bowl of cereal from their breakfasts, the potted plants in their gardens, to stress, just how boring their lives, are.  Then, someone posted a recently purchased vacuum, and chimed, that this was the most exciting thing that’s happened in her life of late.  There were sometimes the selfies with the postings, the way these individuals all appeared natural, with that confidence in their smiles, that friendliness about them.  This made me feel, that in this world of famous online persons, those who want to exaggerate things to get attention from the online community, those photos that people take of their gourmet dining experiences, how they got the best of the deals, this group was like that breath of, fresh, air.

It’d made me think, how is boring or fun defined?  Must we, have a ton of things on the schedules, go to many places, to live a life that’s not in vain?  No matter what your choices are, if you can be like these ladies, who set their own selves, free, and living life in enjoyments, then, that would be the most comfortable, and the, freest.

So, this is on how we’re all, looking for a place to express ourselves, and, in this modern day of FB (or it may be out???), IG (that’s in, right???), or Tinder (maybe, wouldn’t know…), if you try to appease to everybody, to get the total number of views, and you only feel good about yourselves, as the meter start getting higher and higher one day, but you feel disappointed on another day, when there aren’t, that many, “visitors”, then, you would’ve, LOST your own selves, besides, in this day and age, everybody is online, and we all want to, express something, but, do we have the audience???  Is an audience, really, THAT, important for us, and what does, having an audience do for us, besides, giving US, that boasted sense of our own selves, as if the egos aren’t, INFLATED enough these days already…