What does ‘living fully’ mean? Welcome to the age of pseudo-profound nonsense

[firemonkey]

You’ve seen them before, because they are all over Instagram: the captions urging you to embrace your expansion, whatever that means, slow down to savor the moment, and hustle like you’re Beyoncé – all at once.

“Start visualizing what you want, then say no to anything that isn’t it,” reads one. Another: “Buy the plane ticket, quit the job, plan the trip, wander into the unknown, open your heart, take the leap.”

These reminders to “live fully” are omnipresent on social media platforms. We are constantly told how to live well, happily, adventurously or spontaneously. An army of experts are instructing us to wash our faces, to be a badass, and to say yes.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeands...found-nonsense

[Tom Morello]

This is why I avoid instagram.

[Professor Willow]

Living fully according to who's standards?

Travelling the world, having all the nice things - the big house, the new car blah blah can still be an empty life emotionally.
It seems that having a full life is mostly measured by material things.

[Ronnie_Pickering]

Surprisingly good read, don't fully agree with it though. People have always circulated quotes even before the internet,(even bible snippets) they are helpful to get another perspective of things, where sometimes a perspective can become all too stationary.

[Jen.]

Originally Posted by Melangell

It's so annoying when you here people say they've 'done' a country, instead of saying that they are rich enough to have booked a well supported travel holiday in all the touristy areas.

I've always found the term "done" in that context annoying too, since it makes the purpose of travelling seem like simply crossing a destination off a list rather than doing it for the enjoyment of doing it. Although I've heard people saying they've "done" somewhere after getting return flights for £50 and staying in a hostel, so I don't think it has anything to do with how much money people spend.

[Copernicium]

From the article:

In reality, even your most adventurous friend probably has some lackluster experiences or boring evenings spent watching Netflix.

I resent that. Some of my most sublime evenings have been spent watching Netflix. Netflix and a tube of Pringles is probably as close to bliss as it's possible to get without indulging in something you'll almost certainly regret later.

I enjoyed the article and generally agree with it, but I have a question for the psychotherapist, Sara Kuburic, who works with millennials and is quoted towards the end.

But, Kuburic argues, a full life – which she defines as one full of meaning, freedom, responsibility, and grounded in an authentic relationship with yourself...

What is an authentic relationship with yourself? What on earth is she talking about? As opposed to an inauthentic relationship with yourself I suppose. Dear Agony Aunt, my relationship with myself isn't authentic and I don't know what to do about it, please help. I think she's just slapped the word 'authentic' in because it's a bit of a buzzword with millenials, who she's probably been working with for too long. Authentic indeed.

And while we're at it, her definition of a full life includes both freedom and responsibiilty. That's nice. What sort of freedom is she talking about exactly? The freedom to do what you want whenever you want? Because responsibility tends to curb that somewhat. But she also wants your life to be full of meaning. Well, meaning and responsibility tend to go hand in hand, so good luck hanging on to your freedom as the meaning increases.

Her definition sounds to me like the 'pseudo-profound nonsense' the title of the article is highlighting.

She's right though that some sort of meaning and fulfilment is what we are all looking for, and obviously it's not going to be found by obsessing over social media, but I think her definition of a full life needs a bit of work. That's my opinion.

[anxiouslondoner]

I have friends who take a lot of comfort and reassurance from the "pseudo-profound nonsense" on social media, if it helps them overcome severe anxiety and depression then who am I to criticize?

[Mr. Nobody]

It's a minefield, all the new age buzzwords, and advice/phrases

My take is that the problem is that it's all subjective,
Each of these phrases probably really meant something (to whoever coined it) at some point in their life
But the same phrase will mean absolutely nothing to someone else who has a completely different living context,..as it's all subjective,

One phrase will mean everything and be a poignant moment or a truth for someone at some point in their life,
But it may only make sense to that one person,
Trouble is, it felt so meaningful for them that they imagine it'll have the same meaning and effect for someone else.

Personally, I've always had a lot of bother with and dislike of the idea of "living life intensely" and "burning the candle at both ends", or "living like it's your last day on earth" etc,,..
On one hand, I appreciate the intensity of this and I fully understand the desire for or need for this type of living,
But for me, the actual reality of that would be I'd end up with severe anxiety, severe stress, increased mental health issues and probably some kind of breakdown,

I'm not sure such a style or pace of living is even sustainable or even inherently 'real'
The average human only has so much energy, and so much physical or psychological resources, so to honestly portray this idea as a way of life seems suspiciously unachievable or even just an imaginative flight of emotion,
We all have to sit down and grunt our way through a couple of shits a day,
We also have to do lots of incredibly menial tasks every day,

I think life is just a mix of unavoidable, pragmatic dullness, a few emotional highs, a few moments of euphoria but generally it's often understandably mediocre,
To try and preach that life's "highs" are something we need to permanently maintain, and something we even can maintain just seems to lack depth or any real maturity,
But then, maybe I just am so used to a certain level of misery that it seems that anything else is "odd" and even undesirable.

[Reformation]

On the topic of social media platforms like Instagram and people showing off "my best life" (another annoying buzz phrase I find), I'd recommend "bald and bankrupt" on YouTube.

He's a 40 year old guy who puts up videos on some of his authentic experiences in... former soviet countries! There's no perfect selfies or #grammable scenery.

In fact, some of his most entertaining videos are when he gets a bus to a tiny village and the first thing he does is take a trip to the local shop to buy a bottle of vodka.

Armed with the Vodka he then goes off to befriend a local. He has a truly authentic experience of another culture and he can end up having a connection with the people. It's educational as well as entertaining. He's a cool guy.

He's quite inspiration for someone with SA like me. I'm fortune enough to have been on some lovely holidays to all parts of the world. But if I could talk and connect with people how he does it wouldn't matter where I was, I know I'd be a much happier and fulfilled person.