I’m a bit worried. Our habit of carelessly reposting on social media, without vetting or maybe even thinking about what we are saying, has me worried. I’m concerned not only because of how careless and irresponsible it is, but how tempting it is to do so. I’ve definitely fallen into the trap before, and now I’m very mindful and careful about what I choose to share.

But what is it that makes us so prone to this weird and impulsive sharing of random information? How have the minds behind social media trained us to be such obedient robots? It freaks me out, so much so that I want to stop using social media altogether. But, of course, they’ve also made it basically impossible to survive as an entrepreneur or creative without using their tools to market yourself.

I want off of this train so badly.

I feel like these people set a trap for us and we walked right in like lemmings. I feel like that because that’s what happened! They used every resource they could find to figure out how to capture us psychologically and emotionally. I mean, who would have ever thought we could be addicted to our phones? But we are, and we are addicted to sharing constantly – no matter what the content.

This is why the words “content” and “branding” and “influencing” make me want to vomit. None of this shit is real. We are slaves to this fake world that exists only on a 6-inch screen. We treat it as if it’s infinitely more important than what’s going on around us, right here and now. It’s honestly terrifying.

Every time I think about it, I want to leave my life behind and go hide in a Zen monastery, where I can be with myself, my books, and my writing. Where I can walk slowly in nature without the urge to document everything or compulsively check my messages. Where I can focus in on my heart, my breath, and my spirit without another divisive, incendiary newsflash assaulting me unbidden.

But how the fuck would I make money? How would anyone know about what I’m offering or creating? If you aren’t online in this world, you might as well not exist as far as business is concerned.

I apologize – I’m getting sidetracked. It’s all very frustrating. My point is that I understand we’ve been rather brainwashed, and that the compulsion to repost mindlessly is very real. But you are a person, not a profile. You do not need to keep churning out more and more content to be relevant and important. In fact, when you spend your time doing so, you are losing precious minutes of your actual life. And when you mindlessly repost content without vetting it, you’re compromising your own integrity and possibly even spreading dangerous misinformation.

Please, just live your life. Stop randomly reposting. Get your face out of your phone. Talk to the people around you. You don’t know when they’ll be gone. This just isn’t how we were meant to live, and it’s adversely affecting our lives in every way possible. Want better mental health? The easiest fix is to spend less time in virtual reality and more time in … reality reality.