Notes on a Nervous Planet

Do you feel sometimes that the internet is too much? You read articles after articles, watch videos after videos and it feels like an endless loop. Like a trap. And once you’re in the trap, it’s not easy to escape. There are just too much clutter, too much junk on our computers and phones which keeps us in the loop.

Hi Guys,

Today I’m going to write about a book from Matt Haig called Notes on a Nervous Planet. I’ve been thinking about social media a lot lately, whether it’s a good thing or a bad, whether I’m using it too much and I need to take a step back and do a social media detox. When I saw this book in the store I got really interested in, so today I’m going to share my thoughts about it, because I have to admit, it was a really good one!

This book is not just about social media, although it talks about it a lot. The author, Matt Haig tries to give a general picture about why we feel so miserable sometimes. It is funny to think about, that there’s a lot of things which can make us feel anxious or stressed, even though most of us live a very privileged life. We have safe homes, clean water, we own cars, we can go to holidays, we have the chance to eat healthy, to exercise and the list goes on. So I think it’s really important to ask ourselves why we feel the way we feel? Anxious, stressed, miserable, lost, not enough, depressed…

t r a p p e d

I think I’m not the only one who sometimes feel trapped by the internet. I feel the way as I described at the beginning of this post. I feel trapped and sometimes it’s almost impossible to escape. This is something that Matt Haig talks about a lot. Internet and social media can be a blessing, that’s for sure! If it wasn’t for social media, I think I wouldn’t be vegan today, and I’m forever grateful for that! But there is such thing as social media overload.

Sometimes we might have to disconnect in order to reconnect.

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The author also talk about goals. We think if we achieve certain goals we will be happy. If I buy a new car, I’ll be happy. If I get a better job, I’ll be happy. If I look a certain way, I will be happy. If I have a lot of followers, I’ll be happy. This list is of course endless.

This is such an unhealthy mindset, which I think gets worse with social media. It is just so easy to compare yourself to someone on Instagram or YouTube but I think it’s super important to keep in mind, that you only see a tiny part of these people’s life. And that’s a natural human behaviour, that we like sharing the happy things but no one likes to share the difficulties and the struggles.

w a n t i n g

We always want something, whether it’s a new car or new clothes or a certain look. Social media plays a huge role in that, because we see adds all day. What’s worse, these adds are personalised! A couple weeks ago a googled “vegan backpacks” because I need a new backpack. Then I started to see vegan backpacks everywhere, on every site I use! Just thing about this for a second: happiness is not good for the economy. If you’re feeling wonderful in your skin and you feel that you already have everything that you need in your life, and you are happy, you’re not going to buy anything.

"Perhaps when we find ourselves wanting everything it is because we are dangerously near to wanting nothing."

Sylvia Plath

The author also talks about mental illnesses like anxiety and depression, but since I don’t have personal experience in this topic, I don’t want to write about it, but you’re interested in these topics, I encourage you to read the book.

All in all, this is a great book, but keep in mind, it won’t give you a solution. As the title says, these are really just notes about a crazy world that we live in. You need to find the way to live a happy life. I thing the biggest challenge of my generation and of the future generations is to find a way to use social media mindfully and to find a way to disconnect sometimes. Because if you do, you will realize, that the world out there is a pretty great place!

Cheers,

K