I’m not against social media, I think it has many supportive values and can be very fun, but I do think that it needs a few boundaries to keep its usage healthy, especially among the young and impressionable.

I think one of the biggest disservices anybody can do to themselves is fixate on comparison to others, or worry too much about what people think. We’ve probably all done it, but it’s damaging – effectively a form of draining self-harm in which social media is often the weapon presented as Exhibit A. It’s very easy to look at peoples’ best bits and think your life is lacking, but don’t. Just do your own thing, put that energy towards gaining approval from yourself instead, then fly propelled by a sense of freedom and relief that only comes once you’ve unchained yourself from societal expectations.

This is a little poem I wrote about it whilst eating a biscuit:

Sometimes all I want to do is eat a Custard Cream,

and watch a documentary,

whether that’s with company, or even when more solitary.

And other times all I want to do is gaze at the land,

feel the breeze in my hair, and hear a new band.

Sometimes I lull in the depths of a food-themed daydream.

and read a big fat book,

or Google home furniture and take a lengthy look.

And other times it might be instant noodles for lunch,

not #smashedavocado or a bright #boozybrunch.

There’ll be times when I love to head out to dance,

but most nights I take much more relaxed a stance,

no #Prosecco to drink, no #Bellini to clink,

“What on earth will your peers think?!”

The hashtags may suggest that my life isn’t fun,

or that my cooking looks shite and I weigh a tonne,

but as you get older you learn how to see,

that the best way to live is #hashtag free.

Your media doesn’t define the person you are,

it’s about how you feel, not that lavish bar.

Too many people, and most of them young,

determined to showcase all that they’ve done,

but learn to obsess, less, about the way you dress,

and focus instead on what makes you feel best.

It’s perfectly okay to be a bit “boring”,

because the simplest things are the most rewarding

(Or at least they should be)

#liveyourbestlife – but by being you, being true, being free.


Song of the Day: Plone – Puzzlewood

I’m not sure what genre you might call this, or whether that even matters, but this is a nice, chirpy bit of electronica from Birmingham, UK, recommended to me by Spotify. Spot-on, Spotify.