Outsides In (A Response and Expansion to Bo Burnham's Inside) Part 1

If you've been on the internet recently, unless you're living under a rock, there's no way you haven't heard something from Bo Burham's new special 'Inside.' It has quickly become the soundtrack to 2020 and perfectly encapsulating the pandemic energy so many felt. It wouldn't be Bo Burnham comedy without addressing bigger issues, and we've seen plenty of the past year plus. While it sent so many down a spiral and was an eye opener, it had the opposite effect on me and I think that's because I felt empathy for something so perfectly capturing my feelings and thoughts over the last year plus.

Almost every piece reached me in some way and, in most ways, put in to words the way I was feeling or thoughts I had on more serious subjects. I've loved Bo Burnham's stuff since I discovered back on YouTube. Comedy attacks subjects considered taboo and deliver them in a method to make you think about them while lightening the tenseness surrounding them. It truly is Egalitarian because everyone can enjoy and everyone can be the butt of the joke. Bo's stuff is deep and could be considered offensive, but when you really get into his stuff there's always more meaning, and this comes at a time where so many are trying to find a voice while also incapable of finding the right words, and that's why 'Inside' is a masterpiece.

“Content”

Bo's specials always start out in unique ways that are normally silly and seem all over the place. It's impossible to not notice right of the bat his unclean look while stuck in a room. It's worth noting how he looks to start, and as it progresses, because it really is the journey of what so many experienced. The lyrics also perfectly encapsulate what the pandemic has been like for so many.

“If you'd have told me a year ago

That I'd be locked inside of my home

(Ah, ah, ah)

I would have told you a year ago

Interesting, now leave me alone

Sorry that I look like a mess

(Ah, ah, ah)

I booked a haircut but it got rescheduled

Robert's been a little depressed, no

And so today I'm gonna try just

Getting up, sitting down

Going back to work

Might not help, but still, it couldn't hurt”

In April of 2020 I worked from home and had another stint where I was at home waiting on a positive test and they were the roughest times of the whole pandemic. Initially, I thought being at home was going to be great because days would be short and I'd be able to have more time to myself. However, home quickly felt like a prison and it became so exhausting to do anything. Something as simple, and as essential as sleeping, became something I had to force myself to do. It was an accomplishment just to get the simplest things done.

The biggest thing these lyrics, and the setting of the special capture, is that feeling of being trapped. What is normally a sanctuary, your home, quickly turns into a prison. It felt like the walls were closing in and something as simple as walking outside were next to impossible as you were just stuck, locked inside, and in your head, with yourself. It turned the physical and, your own, metaphorical worlds upside down.

“I'm sorry I was gone

But look

I made you some content

Daddy made you your favorite

Open wide

Here comes the content

It's a beautiful day

To stay inside”

You see the idea of being stuck in the lyrics again to end the short song. More importantly, Bo disappeared from the world to deal with his own personal issues. He made no bones about wanting to be true to himself but also servicing his fans. (Re-watch his last special and pay attention to the end. It really puts inside into even more perspective.) Immediately, the lines get blurred between him doing this for himself or for his fans who he knows have been struggling on some of the same levels of him.

“Comedy”

This song starts out a lot like previous Bo Burnham songs where he puts a subject to song, further documented by the laugh track he inserts at the beginning, while also early on in his isolation with a spotlight on him at his keyboard. Bo was gone for five years and so much changed as cancel culture has been at odds with comedy over the sensitivity 'needed.' He made his name challenging normal thoughts, but doing so to song, but where is his place after five years out. Not to mention everything that has happened over the last 18 months.

“Is comedy over?

Should I leave you alone?

'Cause, really who's gonna go for joking at a time like this?

Should I be joking at a time like this?

I wanna help to leave this world better than I found it

And I fear that comedy won't help

And the fear is not unfounded

Should I stop trying to be funny?”

With so much craziness and wrong going on in the world, will people be receptive to trying to make jokes? I'm sure there was severe trepidation about doing his routine because of how comedians have been received. I hear semi-regularly from my dad about how 'sensitive' society has become. While it has become a political talking point it isn't unfounded. The age of social media has created vacuums where people can isolate themselves and almost fear hearing other thoughts. Even those criticizing the sensitivity put themselves in an echo chamber where the ideas they agree with are the only ones they hear. This is when comedy is needed most, and to not have challenges to your own thoughts and beliefs is a failure to recognize you need to evolve and seek out more knowledge and understanding.

“Healing the world with comedy

The indescribable power of your comedy

The world needs direction

From a white guy like me?

Bingo

Who is healing the world with comedy?

That's it!”

And we're off into what Bo Burnham's brand of comedy provides, a quirky song that actually tackles a serious issue. This past year has seen the advancement of racial relation discussions to the point of the civil rights era, yet the main talking heads for African American rights continue to be dominated by non-African Americans. More room has been made at the table, but still so many Caucasian Americans, on both sides, think they can speak honestly on a subject most have very little understanding of.

“I'm a special kind of white guy

I self-reflected and I want to be an agent of change

So I am going to use my privilege for the good

(Very cool, way to go!)

American white guys

We've had the floor for at least 400 years

So maybe I should just shut the fuck up

I'm bored

I don't wanna do that

There's got to be another way

For me to help out without standing on the sidelines

Never!

The wait is over!

I'm white, and I'm here to save the day!”

After addressing some of the issues, while getting a funny jab in about ignorance at the same time, you see this expanded even more. Those that want to help claim they're different and be part of the solution. Now let's not get it twisted, unity is important but it becomes a bit detrimental when it almost is twisted in to American Caucasian's own issue, when it's not. We don't want to sit on the sidelines, which is good, but we shouldn't be hijacking the movement when it's just as much about getting the other voices to the top and heard.

Even further driving the point home is the fact that Caucasian's have been the one in charge for most of human history and, yet, here we are. Perhaps it's time to let some other ideas and leadership give it a shot for awhile. This is a threat to plenty who want to remain on top and to others it may be 'boring' because you want to help and maybe even be on the winning side as 'one of the good ones.' It's a hero complex when instead what's called for is the need to be at the bottom of the pyramid lifting others up.

When the flash point of George Floyd's death hit the country and so many stood up saying enough was enough, it was something new. “How do I help?” “What can I do?” I wrote about it to try and sort out what I thought were the answers to those questions, I know it sounds contradictory to what I'm saying the message of the opening of the song is, but what my destination was 'shut up and listen.' I can empathize and try to understand, but I truly cannot know what the African American experience is like so I need to cede my time and let them explain. This was my solution, while donating to the NAACP, to try and help without clouding what was happening with my ignorance.

“If you wake up in a house that's full of smoke

Don't panic, call me and I'll tell you a joke

If you see white men dressed in white cloaks

Don't panic, call me and I'll tell you a joke

Oh shit, should I be joking in a time like this?”

These lyrics are meant to be two-pronged. Bo has been very critical of people becoming reliant on their entertainers, breaching the line of the service industry that it is. This personal connection has been made and put so much more into the art they're creating. Now, you can take something out of, clearly I am and so many have with this special, but you choose to do that. You choose to engage with the art itself, but you aren't counting on the entertainer in an actual important situation to be there for you.

The other half is to realize this is just the start of the conversation. Bo's songs are meant to give you perspective, but not have the whole conversation. You can have someone open you eyes to an idea but you have to flush it out to its capacity. Also, it attacks the idea of attacking comedians, or others, who address these serious issues and people get upset at them for saying it, but not at the issue itself. If someone makes a comment about a serious issue, a house on fire, and you attack them for doing so what are you actually doing about the issue itself, the house on fire? It's the verbal equivalent of killing the messenger. Any one person can identify the issue but it will take many more to fix it. However, in this age there has to be pause because so much fire can be spread about a comment.

“And I want to help to leave this world better than I found it

And I fear that comedy won't help

And the fear is not unfounded

Should I stop trying to be funny?

Should I give away my money? No!

I know what I gotta do

Healing the world with comedy

Making a literal difference, metaphorically”

The goal of all mankind should be to leave the world better for the next generation to push forward, yet here we facing a calling to do so and so many have shrugged at it. Really, a lot of current political issues face that selfish response. Money, and power, are two of the biggest things no one wants to give up but, even more so, to really be part of a solution may be giving up a bit of yours to help out others but that's the line so many draw. Therefore, the message rings hollow and that literal difference becomes metaphorical because it is just a vision without the action.

“FaceTime with My Mom Tonight”

The view of the shot closing in at the beginning of this song makes the view similar to how it would on a phone while you were FaceTiming, but I think it was also metaphorical. Being stuck inside during COVID was the physical embodiment of being closed in, but it also can feel like being boxed in when doing something you are uncomfortable with. Trying to maintain the relationship with parents, with loved ones, while struggling mentally yourself, just because you know you should, can be extremely suffocating.

“Pour me a drink and clear my schedule

I'ma FaceTime with my mom tonight

These 40 minutes are essential

I'ma FaceTime with my mom tonight”

Oh how important non-personal conversation became during COVID. Ironically, trying to stay connected almost had the opposite effect because those loose connections, those you weren't tight with, fell away. The concept of making it an appointment further encapsulates how things were like while stuck at home because those simple tasks became so arduous.

“She says, "Oh, look who's here. Say hi to dad!"

He says, "How ya doing, bud?"

I say, "I'm not so bad"

And that's the deepest talk we've ever had

Watching as she looks for her glasses

I'ma FaceTime with my mom tonight

She'll tell me all about the season six finale of The Blacklist

I'ma FaceTime with my mom tonight”

Not being able to spend time with the people you normally do, but still having the ability to connect for still extended periods of time quickly revealed how deep your connections were with those around you. You could recuperate some of that lost person to person to connection, but only if it was there was a connection to draw on outside of small talk. That's even for those that even made the effort to try and maintain the relationship.

My views and associations with the concept of family were already tumultuous and warped pre-lockdown and so many of them were put to rest permanently. These 'bonds' that were so 'important' couldn't even be bothered by the slightest attempt at a reach out to even just check in and that revealed how deep they actually were. When it became even tougher for them to maintain they were quickly left forgotten. It's almost as if there were even a waste of time to even try.

“My mother's covering her camera with her thumb

I'll waste my time FaceTiming with my mom”

Hell, even the bonds proven to be important and withstood the test of time still faced their shares of trouble. With so little going on there was so much less to talk about as so many struggled with the daily grind of getting through a day. I already have a tendency to be extremely susceptible to 'out of sight, out of mind' and that was only magnified in 2020. Unfortunately, that proved to isolate me even more while already operating with such a small circle of people close to me.

Luckily, the ways of reaching out behind person-to-person were lifesavers for me and worked, at least enough to hold on to my sanity, albeit through times of frustration while trying to figure out how to effectively communicate and be friend or family member. It was by far the most time I spent on the phone since early texting days, before everything became screen to screen contact.

The question will be “Can you go back?” or “Can things be salvaged?” Will everyone get a rain check because it was so tough on everyone, or do the people who weren't there at some of the lowest moments permanently sit on the outside? For myself it has been the latter, though most were probably already there to begin with. That's not even taking into account the adjustment to being around people, at social gatherings and putting those social skills back to work. What damage can be undone? Did things grow stronger or are there cracks that are unfix-able?

“How the World Works”

“The world that's around us

Is pretty amazing

But how does it work?

It must be complicated

The secret is the world can only work

When everything works together”

Welcome to the kids' show that'll rock you as an adult. The message is clear but then delivered in simple terms, the animal world, kids would understand. Overall, I think the larger message is the solutions may be simple but it glosses over just how complicated and ugly the problems really are. Also, the images can be beautified, focusing on nature, for the superficial outer layer of what's actually going on. It's like being polite, not causing problems and following the 'rules' should be enough to improve things and function but there are such larger issues a blind eye is turned towards. Hence, the introduction of socko.

“Where you been, Socko?

I've been where I always am when you're not wearing me on your hand

In a frightening, liminal space between states of being

Not quite dead, not quite alive

It's similar to a constant state of sleep paralysis”

This drives home the ignorant state held against these issues. Somehow out of sight, out of mind means they aren't there when really they are. The problems are so large, yet rarely knowingly affect us on a daily base, almost Schrodinger's issues. If they don't reach you then are they really issues, though we know better.

“Socko, we were just talking about the world and how it works

Boy, that sounds complicated!

Do you have anything you'd want to teach us about the world?

I wouldn't say anything that you probably haven't already said yourself

I don't know about that, Socko

How about you give it a try?

Alright!”

The dynamic of this relationship hearkens back to the cultural majority's relationship with those trying to be heard. There's trepidation but the flash point has happened to bring these issues to the forefront so the majority says they'll step aside to hear the perspective and learn what is really going on. However, it doesn't stay that way.

“The simple narrative taught in every history class

Is demonstrably false and pedagogically classist

Don't you know the world is built with blood?

And genocide and exploitation

The global network of capital essentially functions

To separate the worker from the means of production

And the FBI killed Martin Luther King

Private property's inherently theft

And neoliberal fascists are destroying the left

And every politician, every cop on the street

Protects the interests of the pedophilic corporate elite

That is how the world works

Really?

That is how the world works (that is how the world works)

Genocide, the Natives say you got to it first

That's how (that's how) it works”

The well is opened and out comes the underlying issues that are extremely grand in nature. The cliché is “History is written by the winners.” and has very much been a core issue of the current racial awakening. How many school functions have been taken over by parents wanting the message to be “America is great.” or to whitewash the whole era of slavery in this country? The Confederate statues are 'part of history' (while the simple facts are most were built as intimidation factors), yet slavery is supposed to be forgotten because it's in the past. How much African American, immigrant and Native American history is really taught in school history when the whole idea of the United States of America is that it's the great melting pot?

Almost every great historical event in world history was met with the bloodshed of war or slaves/those treated like lessers. In just the United States there's slavery, the genocide of the Native Americans, sacrificed Chinese for Manifest Destiny, Japanese Internment Camps and the United States is one of hundreds of countries. Blood is the cost of a country's strive to success and glory, yet only those that serve in the name are regularly recognized. Much like the beginning of the song, it's just the pretty superficial layer over a much more complicated and ugly full truth.

I don't know enough about economics to speak intelligently on the issues, but the wealth gap continues to expand in this country. The middle class disappears while the upper 1% continue to hoard more and more money. Inflation of every day goods continues while there are heels dug in over living wages to match, not to mention and pushed narrative of laziness about addressing these issues while those of past generations fail to even look at just basic numbers.

Politically, besides the age of hero worship we've found ourselves in, the system has become the lesser or two evils. What a single politician stands for seems to rarely matter because it's just getting behind party lines once they're in a position to actually do something. This has created a massive amount of voter apathy which just let's the system run as it wants, in gridlock while politicians serve themselves and fatten their wallets. Not to mention the government is supposed to be a reflection of its people, yet most of the country is represented by old Caucasian's that aren't even the majority of voters anymore and continues to lock in stale, uninspired ides to help the country.

“That's pretty intense

No shit

What can I do to help?

Read a book or something, I don't know

Just don't burden me with the responsibility of educating you

It's incredibly exhausting

I'm sorry, Socko

I was just trying to become a better person

Why do you rich fucking white people insist on seeing every socio-political conflict through the myopic lens of your own self-actualization?

This isn't about you

So either get with it, or get out of the fucking way”

The million dollar question, “What can I do to help?” The answer is very simple, educate yourself. As a people we get so locked into our own daily grind it's easy to have the blinders up to everything, to the fact everyone is the center of their own story going through similar things. Because of everything that has happened last year I learned the word sonder. It means “the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own.” It's very simple in concept, but something lost on so many of us.

More importantly, this identifies the passing off of thinking for individuals to someone else. We live in a headline skimming society where just getting the headline makes so many people believe they know exactly what is going on, when instead there is so much nuisance needing to be understood. Those that are responsible will tell you to continue to look into it because those that are educated won't have the wool pulled over their eyes.

I enjoy John Oliver's 'Last Week Tonight' where he tackles a big issue with an extended look, trying to draw eyes to an issue not receiving attention. He lays out a lot of facts and ends with a call to action, which regularly includes telling you look into it at a local level. It's that responsibility, not saying he has done the thinking for you, but starting the path towards the knowledge needed to address the issue that is lacking. Bo is drawing that comparison to himself as well, because even if you agree or decide he might be right you have to look more into it yourself. I compare it to something like Fox News and it's biggest talking heads that spew slanted opinions that omit so much so many take as the end all. I think very rarely can you hear a few minutes of something and have everything you need to really know what's going on.

Now, of course Fox News is not the only bias 'news' source out there, on either side, but taking a headline and few blurbs is wrong no matter what side you're on. That is the definition of 'being a sheep' that has become much more popularized recently. However, the ignorance and guilt runs much deeper than that because so few are willing to admit “I don't know.” or “I'm not sure I have enough of it to have an educated opinion on that topic.” That is a level of honesty and self-realization desperately needed a whole lot more in this world.

Social media has made it so that so much of the world has to peacock and, as things get so much more polarizing, so many feel the need to be recognized and receive credit for doing good. However, doesn't that fundamentally make a good deed not a good deed anymore? Wanting to be seen, wanting to receive the recognition for being part of the solution takes away from achieving the solution. In terms of the racial discussions going on, there's an attempt to warp it to include more than who it truly effects. This also muddles it when it comes to the side of trying to help, because who actually cares and who is actually in it for some clout and then will bounce once things quiet down? It can provide a convenient alibi for later transgressions also.

It is very commonplace when someone is expressing an issue to retort with personal experiences related to what happened to them. It isn't inherently bad, but it also can turn what was someone's issue into centering it around you. This can be weaponized, and in the current social and cultural discussion, innocently or not, it's not the time to do that. It's not about Caucasians, though I'm sure most have heard someone say their life has been tough so as to glean sympathy, or belittle, from the movement, so we need to step aside.

“Watch your mouth, buddy

Remember who's on whose hand here

But that's what I

Have you not been fucking listening?

We are entrenched in

(starts to pull the sock off)

Alright, alright

Wait, no please!

I don't wanna go back, please”

Bo stepped to the side to let Socko explain the issues in the world and be equal, but when he was called out for not being a full support of the solution and assessed his part of the blame he goes to 'put him back in his place.' I believe a majority of people would claim 'everyone should be treated equal' but then when it comes to realizing that means ceding opportunities, power, room at the top, that support falls off. We want things better...as long as we're still the unquestioned top of the food chain.

I know people that have complained about BET having their own awards, “There's no all white awards.” or “Why isn't there a white pride month?” and is never ceases to be cringey. This is your prime example of making it all about you while somehow, not only, turning a blind eye to the privilege Caucasians have, but actively shutting down any discussion otherwise. There are levels of complications to these arguments, but I fail to even get to them because the fundamental truth is would the everyday people even care? I have no doubt the people I've heard make these contentious claims wouldn't care even if they got their wishes. It's just about getting all the attention and being at the top because it selfishly has to revolve around us.

“I can't go, I can't go back

Please, please, I'm sorry

Are you gonna behave yourself?

Yes

Yes, what?

Yes, sir

Look at me

Yes, sir

That's better”

“The tallest nail gets hammered down.” Bo gave Socko and opportunity to have his voice heard and when he said something Bo didn't like he got pushed right back down. Bo even goes as far to make sure the master/puppet, majority/minority roles were reestablished. When you look at political ideologies, no one will admit one side has all the best ideas, yet we've seen over the last decade plus so many argue their side is 100% in the right and the other should be ignored. We've seen so much of society retreat into their echo chambers and, subsequently, grind progress to a halt.

One time when I was in Chicago I was in an Uber and my driver was from the Middle East and so I asked him about what his experiences had been in America. It was fascinating as we eventually started talking about politics and he said “You have to have different ideas otherwise progress stops.” It is mind-blowingly simple, yet fundamentally ignored. No one is right 100% of the time and no one has all the answers, so many perspectives should be considered. Taking it a step further, this country was born out of the defiance to say “Things aren't right and a change needs to be made.” and we don't forget that when personally we want a change. However, if someone of differing views wants a change the common retort has become “If you don't like it, then leave.” That's not how things improve for the betterment of all.

Ironically, Bo points out how the world SHOULD work and, in fact, how it DOES work. It should work with unity and striving to be better for all, but the way it does work is by carving out your own piece and doing whatever you can to not give any of it up. “I want change...that only benefits me.” It's the selfish sentiment that has been adopted and I would say fundamentally un-American, at least in the vision of what America was born to be.

“Social Brand Manager”

This continues Bo's commentary on the current social situation by pointing out just how the battle lines have been drawn. Companies truly aren't allowed to not have a stance when it comes to these issues. Think of commercials you've seen, more than likely most will have some sort of issue they've tied their company to. It has become less about what product they make and more about lining up with your own belief system.

"Consumers want to know are you willing to use your brand awareness to affect positive social change...which will create more brand awareness." This immediately points out the flaws in these campaigns. Are they really about the social issue they're hitting or are they doing it for the bottom line? Are they really doing anything to make a change?

We just had Pride month and so many companies say they're on board and fly the rainbow colors for the month, but truly how many are actually about that? There's plenty of memes that document it because the support of Pride seemingly disappears completely once the month is over. This raises the argument "If something positive comes from not the best intentions is it bad?" The companies coud contribute, get awareness out and say they're in line for a month, but is it truly a good thing if they only do it for that month?

"The question isn't what are you selling? Or what service are you providing, the question is what do you stand for?" "...tell your customers J.P. Morgan is against racism, in theory." In the companies defense, they are responding to what consumers seemingly want in a demand for a stance socially and politically, but is it really for a good cause? The average consumer doesn't know what these companies are doing when they say they 'support' certain causes. However, they benefit because the average consumer will remember company A supported Pride and, if that's in line with your beliefs, you will remember them favorably and likely continue to spend money with them.

There's a sandwich shop where I live who advertises each sandwich shop sold is matched with a sandwich donated. However, after some people I know dug deeper it isn't as simple as they make it sound. It's not an even swap as there's some shady math put into place when it comes to those 'donations.' My girlfriend works on a Pride committee and when it comes to their events, sponsorships are a tricky thing to work through. They've changed who they allow to be sponsors after plenty of politicians wanted to be at the events and say the right things last year, an election year, yet don't deliver on those promises after the event is over.

"...and you've got a choice as a brand. You can hide and bury your head in the sand and hope it fixes itself, or you can roll up your sleeves and get to work...and sell Butterfingers." This whole skit brings perspective to doing an actual good deed. Bo points out the almost hypocrisy in the 'stances' the companies take, but it goes further into 'How do you measure a true good deed?' If you put your good deed out there for the world to see, yes an argument could be made for spreading awareness, but in this world of social media there's an argument for doing it for the perception, the clout. I believe you do good without needing to be acknowledge for doing so.

After all the social upheaval I decided I need to donate to charity and could have broadcast it, but I felt that takes away from doing the good deed as a whole. It isn't about receiving recommendation for doing what is good, but doing what is good because that's what you're supposed to do. I can lend just as much support vocally for those causes without seeking recognition for donating to them.

"White Woman's Instagram"

This song is one of the huge reasons I thought about doing this whole reflection because I believe it nails a huge issue right on the head. Not to say the rest of his special doesn't, but this one hits close to home for me working and radio and how important and tied in social media has become in this career field.

"...Fresh-fallen snow on the ground

A golden retriever in a flower crown

Is this Heaven?

Or is it just a

White woman

A white woman's Instagram"

Social media is a place to share and connect with people, or at least that was the intentional point of it. However, somewhere along the lines it became the arena of human competition for peacocking. It became less about sharing what's going on with you and more about showing off how great and ideal things are. It has become a toxic place because of FOMO and self-comparisons that often leave people feeling less or inadequate.

It's not like there weren't people living this actual lavish lives before, but now we have access to it and our minds play evil tricks on us to measure up and ultimately fall short. I cannot tell you how many times I've had conversations in professional conferences or with peers who remind people not to compare their lives with what they see on social media. Those are either their best moments or, more likely, just want they want you to see so they aren't the whole truth.

"Latte foam art, tiny pumpkins

Fuzzy, comfy socks

A coffee table made out of driftwood

A bobblehead of Ruth Bader Ginsburg

A needlepoint of a fox

Some random quote from Lord of the Rings

Incorrectly attributed to Martin Luther King

Is this Heaven?

Or am I looking at a

White woman

A white woman's Instagram"

Something just as bad as FOMO has also come out of this social media competition, something I dub 'the formula.' If you've heard this song and discussed it with others that have as well, it comes up as something that is spot on. So many have some, if not a lot, of these types of pictures on their own feeds. On a platform meant to share you, a formula has been established and duplicated time and time again. By virtue of that being true, social media has become very much the same.

This is the crux of my own personal issue with social media, it's a whole lot of fake. It goes way beyond the presenting the best side of yourself, it has become a toxic platform of using result decided elements to just produce what will succeed and avoid being uniquely you at all.

The example I run across most often is uplifting quotes and messages. So often so many regurgitate the seem inspirational quotes to seem like they're full of positivity and cheering for everyone else, yet they're used so often they have become clichés. Honestly, if someone you follow on social media just posts "Don't worry about not being about being off your planned track, we all are. You can still be something great!" does it really do anything? There's no meaning, no personal connection behind it so these powerful words become just that, words.

Anyone can just say or type something, but it takes the actual person to breath life and deeper meaning into them. That gives them power. Instead it follows the same cookie cutter approach of being what people think they want to hear without actually doing anything of substance. It is a disgusting perversion of fooling others into a certain perception while doing very little to actual live that reality.

This hits close to home for me because social media has become such an integral part of what I do for a career and so many are lauded for their 'following' on those platforms. So many though, when examined side by side, are interchangeable, and more importantly, fake. So many I see post 'uplifting' and 'confidence boosting' things to their audience, but when you talk to those close to them you find out they don't walk the walk of their talk. It leaves even further credence to it all just being an act put on for profit and not for beliefs.

"Her favorite photo of her mom

The caption says:

"I can't believe it

It's been a decade since you've been gone

Momma, I miss you

I miss sitting with you in the front yard

Still figuring out how to keep living without you

It's got a little better, but it's still hard

Momma, I got a job I love and my own apartment

Momma, I got a boyfriend, and I'm crazy about him

Your little girl didn't do too bad

Momma, I love you. Give a hug and kiss to Dad"

This stanza is interesting in the song because you almost get a personal connection, something unique in it. It's something touching covering for the bragging that is done inside the caption. I almost feel bad pointing out how it isn't, because it is something personal and relatable, but it encapsulates the repurposed mission of social media, validation. This message fully encompasses the competition and comparisons of others, measuring out the achievements.

This is my other big complaint with social media, taking away from the moment. Because of the need to document something special so you can brag or receive validation, it seems to be less about enjoying what is happening and more about documenting it for your platforms. Of course there is recreating, which is better in terms of enjoying the moment, but something feels off. Don't get me wrong, we all have moments we wish we could capture to relive, but doesn't something become much more special that is just shared among those that were part of it? Doesn't being fleeting make it that more precious?

I've never been great at social media and part of that has always been my forgetfulness about taking pictures. Even when I tried the moment would pass and then I would kick myself because I missed it. However, it's a point of pride for me now. Yes, it probably is a bit snobby, but not thinking about how to capture something perfect for social media leaves me focused on what is happening. My phone is already a big detriment in being attentive to life in general so I don't need anything taking any more away from the big events themselves.

Bo nailed the issue of social media, that has seemingly turned into creating the best life instead of just living it. Somehow we have collected decided that if you don't share something it didn't truly happen. Don't get me wrong, being able to document the best moments of your life is great to go back and relive, but that's all it is, reliving. It's not worth the expense of actually experiencing it in a truly pure, uninterrupted form.