About 2 months ago, Say Kiat started the Sunday hiking trips. It was actually quite unforeseen at that time; when we were talking about bringing back public social spaces in Instea Bukit Jalil, that’s not something we could change, we thought.
“Do you want to join me hiking tomorrow morning?”, he asked.
“Of course, we could start a small hiking group. That’s not bad too.”, I answered.
Sport groups are the most accessible, in my opinion. If we couldn’t revive public social spaces, this was a really good start, I thought.
From then on, it has become a weekly occasion.
If I were to draw or describe the first two months of hiking, which is, prior to today, it would be a picture of rainforest trees, muddy trails, huge mushrooms that grow on the trunks of the trees…
At that time, and even now, I struggle with routines. Being full-time entrepreneur, routine is hard; I live on routines, but that is a topic for another time.
Hiking was, and still is, my attempt to add a routine to my chaotic lifestyle. And I went through with it. Till now, never have I skipped hiking without explicit reasons.
But something was missing.
The “backbone” route of Bukit Gasing was mostly “covered” - deep under the tall rainforest trees.
“Humid! Crowded! And muddy!”, we complained multiple times.
Mornings couldn’t be refreshing if we didn’t get our refreshments.
But that wasn’t really what’s missing.
I had a refreshing hike today.
For months, I had the burden of the world on my shoulders (or in my thoughts, maybe a little obsessed, I admit). So often would I complain to my friends about what’s wrong with the world today.
I romanticized about the past. If I had choices of which time period I could live on before my next reincarnation (if there is afterlife at all), I would choose to born in the 60s’ just so I could dance under the disco light with an afro in my 20s’.
I thought the peak of humanity would be the 60s-80s.
But you know what, I kinda still do.
But you know what, it doesn’t matter.
Why would I need to save the world when I couldn’t even handle my own life?
It would be too early to say that I was a Nihilist, but I’m sure you could say that I tried to be an existentialist, although a failed attempt. If you’re not sure what I meant, see this.
A week ago, I started my social media “diet”.
Unbeknownst to me for some time, social media had become the sources of many of my frustrations. It had stopped adding value to my life for quite a while already.
I had met inspiring people - creators, artists, photographers, designers, through social media when I was in the university. But that suddenly stopped happening after Covid.
Unsurprisingly though, I was part of the blame. Because I could not find any way to inspire people like I tried to do in the past; photography isn’t part of my routine anymore, at least I’m not as “hardcore” now.
Entrepreneurship is hard. And I have chosen this path because it would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I would admit that I did not fully understand its costs. But I did not regret it.
Back to the topic at hand - cutting down social media usages.
Personally, I would never allow myself to be uninformed. But how could cutting down my social media usages keep me informed?
Thing is, social media wasn’t the only way that I get informed, it was only the medium where I see my views got manifested.
I’d leave out the details, basically whatever drama that is happening in the social media, were the manifestation of my worldviews.
It was rather depressing to say that a hopeless future was slowly being realized in front of me.
Just like public social places, it wasn’t something I have in control to change.
Hence, I’ve decided to focus on myself instead. No one needs to feel so much anyway. The world on my shoulders? That’s actually very dramatic, I admit LMAO.
The hike this morning was rather refreshing because it was the first hike after I started my social media diet.
We took an alternative route without all the humidity, crowd, and mud. (Yay! With the additions of some monkeys and pigeons though.)
Funnily enough, it was also the first time that we reached the peak of Bukit Gasing.
When I saw the view of the capital from the peak of Bukit Gasing; even the city that drove me to the edge of Nihilism seems balmy.
