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I Am Lonely

It seems the internet has gradually shifted into a place that is superficial. Maybe I was disillusioned in my younger years, but I vividly recall the internet as a magical- even fantastical- place where I could connect with others such as myself.

These places no longer exist, and if they do, they are but mere shells of what they once were. It makes sense that people grew out of the sites, naturally. Some of the sites, however, were altered for unnatural reasons- involving political correctness and a desire to mimic trendy websites like Facebook. Now it seems there are very few websites where one can truly speak his/her mind.

The 'old school' websites of the past, where I made long term friends, grew, and had many difficult moments as well as good laughs, are gone. It has been years since they existed, and I occasionally sift through the internet on a quest to find the 'new world' of the internet, only to be deeply disappointed.

I realise that my generation is possibly more nostalgic than the ones that came before us due to visual interpretations of data and memories being so different from mental processes prior to the public use of the internet. I realise that we have endless images we can look back at that have steadily documented our experiences, giving us specific memories in which to vividly hold on to, even if those memories have evolved and changed beyond our own abilities to understand. (Every time we recall a memory, that memory changes ever so slightly. It is so subtle that we cannot detect the changes, so memories that we think we are accurately recollecting may well be nothing more than illusions loosely based off past realities.)

I think one of my greatest weaknesses is my inability to fully let go of the past. Through meditation I have experienced the release of past issues and challenges, and I genuinely feel like I have moved on from them, only for them to return when I am feeling low. I can and have gone months, even years, without thinking of something that has bothered me very greatly in the past, only for it to rear its unwanted feelings and thoughts within my inner psyche.

They are cyclical and infrequent: a combination that makes it very hard to target the root cause of such phenomena, but it seems that being slightly depressed, for whatever reason, triggers the pattern of recalling things that can make me feel even worse. Quite frankly, this is not good. What's even worse is that I know I won't get depressed for long because I am fairly strong, so I can be a bit lazy about indulging in negative thought patterns. I might even think it's healthy to feel downcast and lowly for short periods of time, so long as it's not indefinite.

I get depressed when I am lonely and life is sluggishly uneventful, which it often is these days. It's quite the contrast from some of my most heightened experiences that I've had since 2015. The very fact that I have something to compare my current state of living to is also a contributing factor to my negative feelings and thoughts. I just wish I could be doing something meaningful with my life. I feel helpless, like everything is futile.

The more effort I put into job hunting, the more it hurts when I'm declined or never hear back from companies that seemed keen in considering me but didn't even have the decency to tell me they were no longer interested. My initial instinct is to be extremely sad and discouraged, when I should be angry and then move on. Instead, I absorb the feelings of failure for a while before trying again.

I just wish things would turn around. Being away from the love of my life makes me so miserable.
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thesunismyBFF · 41-45, M
I used to think the Internet was such a powerful force for good... of course there were downsides, but the sheer limitless possibilities... But the last couple of years I'm starting to see the flip side all too clearly. The internet is a place that tends to bring out the worst in people, and like you said, promotes the shallow over the profound. I share your longing for the past in a way, but more for a future that could have been.
AnnaKarenina · 31-35, F
I'm glad you understand me so thoroughly. The longing definitely stems from the unmet potential of what we could have evolved into as a society. More and more I think we are falling short. There are too many holding us back with their ignorance, too many holding us back deliberately with their political powers and manipulation, and too few who strive for a better future, but either don't know how to begin or can't rally enough people to wake up and join.
thesunismyBFF · 41-45, M
I couldn't agree more, beautifully said. I still think every day about what I can do to help, to change something... but it's not easy. They are many and I am one. 😥
I remember the little internet forums I used to go on, where people would exchange ideas and opinions and knowledge freely without serious concern for what the idiosyncratic taboos and mores of the site happened to be (the PostSecret forums, for instance, were flooded with people rabidly opposed to ever taking any sexually explicit photos or videos of oneself, whereas Fetlife essentially encourages the practice). I so rarely see places like that anymore. You have to just deal with whatever the site's favorite prejudices are. You're always, to some extent, playing local politics. It's less close, and there is less camaraderie, less genuine friendship, as a result. It is depressing. So is the loneliness and disconnection from loved ones. I hope something brightens for you in the near future, and remember that there are still some of us who are willing to listen and talk if you ever need it.
AnnaKarenina · 31-35, F
So it seems it wasn't just my own experience, but a true shift that took place across the internet. Before Facebook and the whole 'trending' gossip I see no matter where I go online, people were less panicked and hateful. At least, that's my theory. No one sent sexual pictures to me prior to 2013ish. Seems that's when the shift really took off. Now it's grown to the point where no one knows what's fact versus what's fiction. Just as the governments of the world want. People can't protest if they don't know what to protest. I feel like Big Brother watches everyone, through the group effort of all the sheeple who believe one source of information over another, and we can't say anything without those people participating in 'two minutes of hate' against us.

It's deeply disturbing, and I've pretty much given up trying to form meaningful connections online. Kind of like all the unique, nerdy people I used to always find online have been run off, and the old websites removed, only for new websites, with all the trend-seekers looking for validation, to take over. I often wonder where we all went.
I tend to view the problems in more of a Huxley-esque than an Orwellian manner, but it amounts to largely the same thing.

I do still try to form meaningful friendships online, but I agree it's becoming more and more difficult to do that. I think part of it has to do with the simple growth of internet access. There are just far more people online now than ten or fifteen years ago, and while previously the internet was sort of a cult thing for tech nerds and so on, now every asshole with a cable hookup is wandering around, spewing their bullshit.

I hope things will change in ways that are positive for people like us, but I don't know when that will be. I just have some hope, because the internet has turned out to be a marvelous thing in spite of the best efforts of much of its user base to degrade it the way they have everyday society.
meemo70 · 51-55, M
You may find some good friends in here. You need to dig deep to find them though but there are good people out there.
I have made some good friends in here and before on EP :)
We are still in regular contact. I've met theee of them in real life :)
AnnaKarenina · 31-35, F
@meemo70: That's awesome! I make friends easily through chatrooms. At least, I did back in the days. I'm sure you're right about needing to dig deeper.
meemo70 · 51-55, M
@AnnaKarenina: true
I hope you find good friends in here
We can be friends :)
SW-User
This post tonight :/ truth.
NotYetTooOld · 61-69, M
I couldn't agree more. Beautifully put.
AnnaKarenina · 31-35, F
Thank you. As sad as it is.

 
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