Modern life, with the lifestyle it has created, has established an online prison that encompasses most of human life, if not all areas. This state has become a vortex and, furthermore, a way of life that most people unconsciously fall into. Notification sounds, how many likes do I have, what do the comments say, has this person approved of me?
This pervasive external validation effect on individuals gradually creates a subconscious program. And the voices in the mind tell them: Since you cannot get your own internal approval, you need external approval. Keep going like this. These subconscious messages become reality over time. These “being online” habits disconnect the person from real life, alienate them from their self-worth, and make them a stranger to themselves.
Blue ticks, red dots, unread messages, positive and negative comments, excessively followed influencers, and beyond. Meanwhile, the person has missed the life they should be living. They have started living other people’s lives in other worlds. This has brought them no peace or happiness. Because the person is not in their own center, they are disconnected from the “Now.” Unable to savor and taste the “Now,” the person, always online, ears constantly seeking something to hear, experiences the despair of having created a prison for themselves from past and future emotions. Meanwhile, time flows by. Is it time that is leaving? Or is it from the person’s lifespan? They will get the answer when the time for what was offered to them in this life and their period of using it comes to an end.
Why should I be reachable every moment of the day?
Shouldn’t a person ask themselves? Why should I be reachable every moment of the day? Why should I be online, allowing my mind to become a dump filled by the outside world? Why do I allow this to myself? Why am I not aware of my existence and being? Isn’t there a purpose for me to be here? Am I the person I came into the world to be? Or am I the representative of the role they want me to be? Which one am I? And most importantly, I should be able to see that such a situation has created an opportunity for me to ask this question.
Who am I?
Are the answers we receive online what the outside world whispers and codes into our minds? Or are they from the connection our inner peace establishes with the Creator? However, a person can only answer this question with sincerity and by being honest with themselves. The lifestyle created by being online leads individuals, even when they are in the restroom, to prove their dependence and loyalty to the external control, their obedience, by answering incoming phone notifications. In fact, these behaviors create serious psychological problems. The person suffers deep wounds without realizing it.
In the mornings, the first thing people used to do after getting out of bed was wash their face. Now, they check notifications on their phone. Before going to bed at night, they check social media one last time. And this situation becomes a routine for people. As normal as breathing, while sitting in a cafe, a teahouse, with their spouse, friends, or acquaintances, they realize that part of their mind drifts into the digital world during conversation. Psychologically, when this situation is examined, the following are encountered;
Fear of not being in the moment!
Not being in the moment, being deprived of what the moment offers. The weakening of the ability to stay in the moment, especially in young people, causes distraction, focus problems, and mental fatigue.
One of the psychological problems created by being online is that the person takes on the responsibility of “the obligation to respond” to incoming notifications.
The expectation of a notification at any moment creates serious stress on people and begins to control their lives. As a result, psychologically, stress, restlessness, fatigue, tension, and a poor quality of life dominate existence.
It doesn’t stop there. It also produces another effect: “Fear of Missing Out” FOMO“. That is, always seeing and observing the lives of others, being aware of them. Enjoying this situation. The fact that most of the lives presented on social media are fake, stories of perfection, success, insincere laughter only when flashes go off, situations so far removed from reality, can psychologically create feelings of inadequacy and dissatisfaction in a person. While watching such a life, a person unfortunately misses out on being the protagonist of their own life.
Imagine a mother spending time playing with her child. At the same time, she tries to fulfill her duty by answering messages on her phone. Likewise, a student is studying. They cannot focus on their lesson because they are distracted by their phone by their bedside. A group of friends has gathered, the goal is to spend time together, but unfortunately, the code of togetherness in their minds finds meaning in dealing with their phones. These and similar events have created behavioral patterns that have also isolated people within crowds.
This situation, the state of being online, has further increased people’s loneliness. This virtual world has completely absorbed the energy that would be generated by people meeting and talking face-to-face, from each other’s facial expressions and movements, creating a soulless, tasteless environment. It has given people the courage to utter all sorts of true or false words without seeing or knowing each other.
What we have discussed so far are observations of the conditions created by online addiction in individuals. What is important here is to have knowledge, awareness, and sensitivity towards every technological development that will take place in our lives. Technology progresses with human existence. Therefore, it is a part of life. So, the real issue is for people to redefine their relationship with technology and move forward.
It is about creating a life that brings out one’s inner journey, being able to manage oneself from one’s own center, valuing time because one can manage oneself, being able to stay away from screens when necessary, being able to stay offline rather than online, and living life with an awareness that knows one’s worth in individual and social relationships from one’s being.
That’s when! A person then meets a voice within the silence and becomes peace itself.
