Texting is empty

I hate texting. I hate texting with a passion. It is so exhausting and draining, I hate that I’m expected to do it. This generation was raised on constant communication, the demand for replies and responses has turned what should have been a casual conversation into an overwhelming performative act. As a matter of fact, it is not a conversation. It is more like the act of forcing yourself to text someone just because you do not want to be perceived as rude. The problem with texting is that there is this constant pressure to respond immediately and if you don’t, it is taken the wrong way and now you are suddenly labeled as “dismissive or disrespectful or lazy”. People think you are ignoring them or you are just being rude. What people don’t understand is that sometimes I am just too tired to keep up with all the hundreds of messages. But there’s no excuse I guess, just constant guilt tripping for not being good at texting back. I cannot count how many times I have been called out for “ghosting” someone just because I needed some alone time after a long day of school. I just want quiet. That makes me wonder, is needing a break a crime? 

It’s like you are trapped in a never ending loop of  “Wyd” or “Wbu” or maybe a “Lol.” Nobody is really saying anything meaningful. They feel more like scripts than a genuine connection. It’s like we have forgotten that it is normal to not be accessible. Don’t even get me started on missing a call or forgetting to call back, it’s treated as being offensive and aggressive nowadays. Being busy and having time for yourself means you are insulting them. I would rather interact face to face, it’s alive. You can see their expression and face and hear the tone of their voice. It adds life to the words. It allows you to be yourself without overthinking if you want to put the sobbing emoji at the end or if you should just use the exclamation mark. Texting is genuinely so dead. There is no spark and no depth – just a bunch of words on a screen. It is draining energy instead of connecting. People treat it as if it’s the only way to keep in touch with each other but that is so wrong. Real relationships involve laughing with one another or just even being present for one another. Real relationships aren’t spamming “Hbu” or “Wyd” every single minute of the day. This is why I despise texting. It drains me of the energy that I could be using for something else meaningful. I don’t want to live life through someone’s Instagram DMs. I want to live in the moment.