What do you think when you think of being social? These days, people live to be social. Social media, social networking sites are all that people do things for. They travel to share it on their Facebook or get likes on Instagram, write for Twitter. Every movie watched, every catch up with friends, every place visited is updated for the society to see. May be that's a part of a To-Do list for approval that we seek from the world.
Is getting social all about expanding your social circle, going out, having fun and bragging the number of people you know. Is it about forgetting yourselves and getting into the void of someone else's world to get rid of your own. For some, it's former; for some, it's latter.
I am not a social person but I like to spend time with people I know. I am an introvert person and don't easily get along with everyone. I have always been the same but there was a time when I didn't mind talking to strangers, not because I liked it but I liked that they are not going to judge me because they know nothing about me and they still have a blank canvas to paint my picture. They may not even bother to paint a picture and just let the conversation pass by. In our society, it isn't really seen as a very positive thing, even I don't like getting involved with strangers but for me, it was only a medium of venting out, those people didn't matter to me. I had no intentions of maintaining a relation with them. But, it was back when I hadn't started writing! I'm not very good at talking because I'm bad with words, which means I'm not a great writer either but since it doesn't involve sharing anything with a person, I'm more comfortable writing and just putting everything out of my head.
I don't really believe in networking. Most people at my workplace don't like me because I'm very blunt but we still maintain a social rapport, a relation that doesn't take us anywhere but keeps us bound.
Over time, I have developed a liking for watching movies alone. The other day I was talking to a friend who's also an alleged introvert but can't imagine going alone for a movie. I suggested him to try it once despite being social, on which I assume he took an offense because he considers himself an introvert. I told him that one doesn't have to be an extrovert to be social and an introvert doesn't have to be a loner.
Being social for an introvert means blocking the mind, losing themselves in others' world. People love to talk about themselves and an introvert uses it to their advantage. They listen to the people and enjoy doing it as it gives them a feeling of being connected with the society and still not be social at all until they are asked to share a piece of their heart. They like to be indulged with people and not getting to talk about themselves makes them feel disconnected from their own issues. We only look for ways to escape our issues and for some, it lies in getting lost in the crowd, listening to people talk about their lives and problems. We take refuge in the noise to feel out of bounds of our own problems.
As Ruskin Bond has right said in his story 'On Fairy Hill': "What we commonly call life is not life at all. Its routine and settled ways are the curse of life, and we will do almost anything to get away from the trivial, even if it is only for a few hours of forgetfulness in alcohol, drugs, forbidden sex, or golf."
Usually, people resort to society to fulfill their insecurities. They may be loved but lack of demonstration of that love leads to pain and a loneliness inside. Most of legendary comedians from Robin Williams, Charlie Chaplin, Kishore Kumar have suffered from depression. These people are the life of a party, they talk and laugh but when alone, they are the opposite. And these people who use humor as tool are the ones who struggle with their inner demons so they resort to distraction by being with other people. It gives them a high and numbs their pain but when they hit back the reality, they get depressed with no energy to bounce back.
Are we all actually a part of society for the society or to fill our voids or to ignore our inner pain!
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