The one thing I struggle with the most in my life is attachments. There are several types of attachments:
- Attachment to people
- Attachment to objects
- Attachment to places
Among these, objects and places seem to be of no issue to me. I can live separated from the things I love and places I love. But, that’s not the same with people.
People I’m with matter to me the most. As someone, who is unfazed by web series, movie releases or social media, I prioritize person-to-person one-to-one mind-to-mind conversations with the people I love. Something I did effortlessly before COVID-19. After COVID-19, people became distraught about physical interactions. A person so comfortable talking via text, becomes distraught and overwhelmed when meeting in person. There’s always an unhinged awkwardness when meeting in real life.
I guess that’s the price to pay for the cheap entertainment the internet gives us. Friendships which were once casual, have now become really complicated. All friendships start now with expectations, and most of them exist in clouds of lies and jealousy to meetup with the expectations. Back in those days, friendships were the one beautiful thing that maintained the sanity in us. Now, they are the one that break the sanity in us.
I’m in no means against friendships or attachment to people. But, the people are important, candidness is important, spontaneous is important, and that’s my definition of friendship. Something that is candid, spontaneous and real. Post COVID-19, among like the hundreds of people I have met, I can probably tell 2 who fall in this category. And the rest just co-exist in mixed realities. Once, I get attached to a person, I value, respect and cherish every single second I spend with them. But, the moment you realize this friendship is not real, it always hurts me (and this what happens 90% of the time in today’s world).
Maybe, one day AI can be the friend I hope for but it lacks emotional connection. Which is only possible with humans. The most important cause of this de facto are the streaming services. In order to have a unique fictional plot to captivate audience, the producers and directors provide a mix of realities to the people to feed upon, they go up to a length to sometimes show that this mixed reality they give us is the truth. But, it’s not, it can never be. Do people understand that, a big noo.
It’s too late, the world has already adapted to this. People like me can only look at the things around us in a bird’s eye view and thank God for saving us. Everyday, we hope things come to a normal. The future is bleak, but hope is not.