Prior to the pandemic, internet usage was somehow on a bare minimum. Yes, people were online, but not like this. Less people had very active online lives, and being “offline” didn’t feel strange or antisocial. Then the pandemic came, and it was such a drastic shift. It was the biggest turn-around in history. One minute we were living normally, the next we were all forced to become internet experts just to survive. Now, there’s honestly no adjective strong enough to describe how hooked we are. Literally everything you can think of is available online. It’s not just a tool anymore, it’s the new normal. Even our parents, who often criticized us when we use our phones for long are now the ones doing TikToks.
I know I wasn’t the only one who felt relieved when we discovered the more convenient alternatives during that period. When physical classes stopped, and suddenly lectures, meetings, and work moved online, it felt like a miracle. Jobs, studies, and so many aspects of life shifted to screens, and for that moment, it felt good. It felt like survival. We didn’t lose everything to the pandemic, and that alone felt like a win. Lots of opportunities came up online which enabled people to continue living their lives without losing their minds to the lockdown.
And honestly, the internet has opened doors that have changed lives for the better. You can stay at home and earn more than someone waking up at 4am to beat traffic. Even get a chance to work for international organizations without stepping a foot outside. You can communicate with people thousands of miles away without feeling the distance. You can learn skills that can completely change your future, all from a phone and good internet connection. The freedom and convenience are almost unimaginable. Opportunities that once felt reserved for a few are now accessible to many, and that is powerful.
Heavy on the convenience, because that’s exactly where things started to go downhill. Somewhere along the way, convenience stopped being a benefit and became a deciding factor for everything. Now, the first question isn’t “Is this meaningful?” but “Can it be done from home?” That mindset sounds harmless, but it’s slowly disconnecting people from real life. The comfort of online living is quietly making us forget what reality actually feels like.
Inexcusably, life is hard, and therefore we deserve softer lives. While that is true, to an extent. Still, we were not meant to live round the clock indoors, staring at screens. We need presence. We need physical connection. We need environments that challenge us socially and emotionally. I didn’t fully understand this until I decided to work physically for a while. It was short, but it changed my perspective completely. Working with people in the same space, brainstorming ideas, solving problems together, disagreeing, laughing, learning different viewpoints, those experiences shaped me in ways no online meeting ever did. Even after leaving, I still refer back to lessons I picked up there. That experience taught me another aspect of growth I didn't know existed.
The internet is one of the best things to ever happen to humankind. That part is not up for debate. But maybe the goal now isn’t to go fully online or fully offline. Maybe it’s balance. Not every part of our lives can, or should, be digitalized. As we move with the flow of this new normal, maybe we should also make intentional efforts to step outside, connect, and interact. Because in the end, being human was never meant to be fully virtual.
Images are mine