Aliyah Gibbs
Staff Writer/ Editor
I know this may be improper, or cynical, or just bad to say… but the older I get, the more I am beginning to believe that life, in a grand sense, kind of sucks. Forgive me, I know this is the quintessential argument of most people in their early-to-mid-20s… and 30s and 40s. It must mean the same realization has dawned on us all. Life, except for the beautiful, loving and peaceful moments, is typically intense and busy and dizzying. And it doesn’t help that we are living in the Age Of Technology. *Cue fireworks.* The age where I absentmindedly open my phone and get bombarded with oddly specific posts that are intended to be “inspirational,” “informative” or “helpful” in some way, but are typically like, “Oh, wow! Have you never considered the fact that you may have seven of the eight traits found in people with OCD? Great! Delve into my 308 posts dedicated to this one specific topic!!!”
Keep in mind, this is not intended to be an “I hate technology and social media, it is ruining everything” type of article (I have written one of those if you are interested); however, this is a key point in my argument.
With the natural ups and downs of life already being a disturbance, having any sort of extra reminder about things you need to fix or get fixed can be overwhelming. We as a society have seemed to come to a realization about social media and its possible negative side effects. I have heard of more people setting boundaries with it, or at least trying to. Though, like most of my peers, I am realizing it’s not enough. Social media isn’t responsible for all of the bad in our lives, despite how easy it would be to blame. Life has been hard since the dawn of time; before Instagram, even before electricity existed. Every generation/era has had its Achilles heel; something that they as a unit all felt the weight or repercussions of. And some have been more severe than others.
Whatever way it goes, people have always had to endure life, and it has always been hard. In fact, there is a Hinduist belief that I learned about in my freshman year of college that has always stuck with me: the process of Samsara. Out of respect for the religion, and because this is not that type of article, I will not attempt to explain it in detail. Rather, I will explain the effect it had on me. In simplified terms, Samsara is the process of rebirth or reincarnation. It expands on the thought that we humans act on desire, which allows for both good and bad things to happen (i.e eternal suffering). The idea is that the cycle continues until you reach Moksha, which is like freedom from the cycle and complete connection to the divine. Basically, you keep coming back and enduring life until you figure out how to live without engaging in worldly desires.
Therefore, since we are all indeed humans engaging in worldly desires, we will all suffer. We all will battle against life and try to find and cherish the beautiful moments in between. And specifically for this generation, we will learn that life is hard and sometimes sucky for everyone… and scrolling on Instagram is an almost guaranteed way to become triggered by a random post that is oddly specific to your current situation. Yet, we persist. Because although life can throw yellow-painted grapefruits at you and call them “lemons,” it is our life, our livelihood. We want to enjoy it.
So, we make the best of it. We talk to our loved ones, hang out with friends, eat sugary fried foods, and go on dates. And we remember to post it. 😉 The matured version of me is realizing that there is actually nothing inherently bad or wrong about the way my generation chooses to endure life. Because at the end of the day, it’s gonna be life. Occasionally sucky–mostly sucky, and sometimes sweet and beautiful. And sometimes you catch a win, and the good starts to outweigh the bad. And if not, and you’re reading this thinking about how many losses you’ve felt, I’d like to say, “Join the line, sister.” Grab a fried sugary food, kick back and wait. Because this is it: this is the ride of life. When it’s good, enjoy it, cherish it and don’t forget it. Those times become the most important when you’re in the down season, in the metaphorical holding cell. That’s when you remember the good, and your love for life is suddenly birthed.
While I did not intend for this to turn into a mini-lesson on Hinduism and a peek into my spirituality, I do feel my point was achieved. While we are here on this earth, in our earthly forms, maybe let’s make a conscious effort to make life less sucky. Or at least try to. Because as we know, life is going to be hard anyway. So, screw it. Make that self-help post that will make you feel amazing about yourself. Even if it is at the possible expense of my third existential crisis. This is my life, that is my problem. That post could be helping you in your “up” season, wellness lady on Instagram.
At least now when I come across potentially triggering information, I can DoorDash a milkshake to my door, and perhaps post it to my story. Just for the fun of it.
THE CAROLINIAN 
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