Curating our digital presence and stories about smoking

Storytelling time

Jul 05, 2024

I write about what I know! I write about what I went through, going through. I write about what helped me carry on, what helps me carry on.

I write about historical events, the ones I ve been a witness off, participant and observer, I write about countries I lived in, about people, about books, about failed projects, about human psychology, about survival, about reclaiming my life in micro steps.

STORYTELLING TIME

Social media! We all know the time used in front of the screen, be it our phone, ipad, laptops, big screen adds up. It really does. I bet you would be horrified to know how many hours you face the … screen. It is the necessary evil nowadays but is there an optimum, a balance we can reach? Are we able to curate our our digital presence? Better still, are we able to be consistent in our sequence of actions?

Some of us will say with confidence! Sure! Once I set up my mind on it, I will do it! But will you?

I pride myself for having a strong will power - most of the time! Hey it only took me 2 weeks to quit smoking so …. I have some proof! Let’s go down the memory lane now …..

a woman with a cigarette in her mouth — Photo by Vitaliy Shevchenko on Unsplash

SMOKING - THE BEGINNING

Smoking came to my life quite late - late compared to the majority let’s specify! I must have been hmm 22 when I joined an advertising company, the first one in Romania owned by a fascinating American, Reese Palley. He deserves a special blog entry as he remains one of the most fascinating people I have every met. So, I joined the advertising agency and started to …. smoke. University years came and went and the habit stayed away but come the fascinating world of advertising with its hip designers, eccentric beyond words, long days working on yet another pitch around a table full of beer cans and pizza boxes and the cigarettes founds their way to my hand and …. stayed there for about 10 good years.

I will confess! I loved every minute of it! I really did! The puritans can stop here really and read another blog as I will not go into a frenzy of self hatred and recrimination. Nope! I have other subjects where these feelings have a ball of a time but not this one.

The camaraderie around a pack of cigarettes was a reality and something I will always remember and treasure. A glass of gin and tonic tasted so much better next to a cigarette in a dark bar, listening to yet another rock band on top of the National Theatre in Bucharest! How can I forget or deny the pleasure? I cannot! It was true!

a group of people sitting around a table — Photo by Lawrence Chismorie on Unsplash

Well you would be tempted to say …. if you loved it so much why are not smoking now? To be perfectly frank, I have no idea!

SMOKING - QUITTING

What I know is that about 20+ years ago I was taken ill with a serious respiratory bug and I had to stay in bed for about 2 weeks. I was not allowed to smoke at home (oh yes, how pathetic I still lived with my parents and had to obey to their / actually my mother’s rules), I couldn’t go out (yea I lived in one of those tall building flats) so I had to simply forget about cigarettes. And I did! Once back on my feet and in the office … again … don’t know why cigarettes stopped being on any interest to me. I had my own office at the time, my colleagues were coming in as before puffing along and chatting and yet I stayed clean of cigarettes.

I do believe that luck plays a bit role in our lives. If the stars align in a particular time, if you are able to connect to that something … things happen with ease, pure magic happens. And maybe this is what it was .. magic and not willpower.

Let’s come back to …. now.

A few weeks ago I took a big decision. To start … curating my social media presence. Big decision. For a long time I was able to take a step back and observe my behaviour. Yes sort of a birds view! And what I saw was not pretty. It upset me!

I was watching ME and seeing the aimless scrolling, stopping at some topics on Youtube - international politics (yes I am interested and hmmm have non main stream opinions) 10 min here, 5 there, scrolling for 15 more minutes, stopping again, a kirtan song, more scrolling, a recipe, more scrolling, an art demonstration, more scrolling, and back again to politics or a movie or ….

And all this … on my phone, after a long day at work where I watch … another screen for hours and hours.

Discipline? Forget it! Once you pick up the phone in your hand …that’s it! The funny bit it that I have tried to leave it in another room, lock it in a box and yet … I found quickly a very important reason (yea right) to pick it up again and … scroll.

This is a real addiction and it has no comparison with smoking! Not in my opinion or better said not in my case.

I wrote down pages with the damage this aimless scrolling did to me already, analysed and nothing has changed. Isn’t it amazing! I really think it is! Addiction is a serious matter!

One of my latest techniques is to set a daily amount of time for each social media (via an App) .

I will report back as it is early days! I wonder how do you cope with the social media overdrive? How are you re-educating your brain to stay away from social media?

As always actually we need to explore what is behind the “veil” - why are we staring at the screen? What are we running away from? Well, this is the starting point isn’t it?

Time for a new cup of coffee and yes … where is my phone?!