“Did you see that video where the guy and his cat did a synchronized flip?”

“I haven’t. I actually haven’t been on Instagram for a week.”

“I’ll pull it up.”

///

“Wait… you haven’t been on Instagram for a week?”

“Yep.”

“Oh. How is that going?”

“Man, it’s been going pretty good, honestly. I’ve been more productive and present at work, I don’t feel all sleepy all the time, and I actually read a book this week.”

“Wow, that’s cool. Good for you.”

“Thanks. I’m actually of thinking of deleting it full-time.”

“Wait. Deleting like the app from your phone?”

“No, like my profile entirely.”

“How are you gonna do that?”

“By deleting it?”

“No, but like… how are you going to talk to people and stuff? Or like enjoy memes?”

“I guess I just won’t.”

“How?”

“By not using it?”

“Aren’t your parents on Instagram?”

“Yeah.”

“And your friends from high school and college?”

“Yes.”

“And your girlfriend?”

“What’s your point?”

“How are you going to like talk to them?”

“Texting, phone calls, facetime, email-“

“You’re going to email your girlfriend?”

“Why do you have such an issue with this?”

“Everyone is on Instagram. You can’t just remove yourself from it all full-time.”

“Why not?”

“Because! It’s how you stay tapped in, it’s how you keep up with culture, it’s how you keep up with your friends!”

“And I can’t do that by calling them? Or watching the news? Or texting people?

“So, you’ll be a hermit?”

“How is me not being on Instagram being a hermit?”

“I don’t know. I just can’t put myself in your shoes. It makes no sense to me.”

“So we’re having a conversation right now, correct?”

“Yes.”

“And I can ask you anything I want?”

“Sure.”

“And I can call you later if you aren’t home to talk, right?”

“If I’m not busy.”

“Whatever. Don’t you see, how is removing one avenue of communication changing anything? I can still talk to you, in fact, I prefer it when we sit on the couch together. You can still show me your memes. And we lost nothing, right?”

“But what about like major life updates? How will people know if you propose to Jean?”

“Can they not ask me about it? Or can I not just tell them?”

“What about new music, new movies, or new tv shows?”

“I might be a little late, but I’ll find out from someone or see it in an ad or something.”

“What about concerts?”

“You’ll probably tell me, honestly.”

“Everything is online, everything is on Instagram. Why do you want to just drop it?”

Life has been tough to swallow. The cynic in me is taking over. I had it out with my life, and decided to take a step back, re-assess. So I’ve deleted Instagram from my phone and see where that takes me. I miss my lil meme dumps, of course. But I just need to remove myself from that app for a while. I guess, what is spurring me on is that I am seeing everything from my own bubble. I’m not truly living. I’ve been stuck in a rut, a cycle of running away from my problems by doomscrolling. And it’s not healthy. I’ve been irritable, irrational, and illogical. It feeds my constant delusions of grandeur and delusions of doom. So I am going to be away for a while. It’s a needed reset.

I am beginning my process of moving to Chicago. I found a guy on Reddit willing to share an apartment with me for pretty cheap. Granted, I don’t know where this will go (we’ve barely exchanged pleasantries). But I updated my resume and LinkedIn and I’m going to apply to jobs. It’s time to move forward. Sadly… it requires work. But it’s necessary. I will need this for me to have a better life. I am going to start writing more (I actually did a shit ton of reading this week for my writing projects!), I am going to start documenting this process, and most of all, I am going to stop letting life slip me by. It’s time to take fucking control!