L'arte della pazienza

Being impatient can have its advantages when we are young, because wanting everything straight away is how we start to discover the world around us. As we grow up, however, most of us begin to realise that life is more of a marathon than a sprint, and we come to recognise the importance of being able to wait and reflect, and we understand that we need a plan before we throw ourselves headlong into the next venture. Unfortunately, however, this is not always the case, as we live in a society where ‘slow’ is bad, and we often feel entitled to have everything we want straight away without putting in any effort.

Social media has played, and still plays, an important role in this process. A study from the University of Glasgow, for instance, found a link between insomnia and the use of social media directly before going to bed and trying to get to sleep. Other studies showed a connection between FOMO, meaning the constant fear of missing out on something important, and a decreased sense of satisfaction in life. Spending an excessive amount of time on social media also leads to a progressive decline in self-esteem. According to the Royal Society of Public Health, 9 out of 10 girls are unhappy with their physical appearance, largely because they are constantly bombarded with retouched images of unattainable and unrealistic bodies in the media. The people on our screens appear to live perfect lives, but almost none of what we see is real. Lissette Calveiro, for example, moved to New York when she was 21, imagining that her life would resemble her very own version of Sex and the City. She was determined to make it as an influencer on Instagram, and she started spending more and more money, just so she could post photos of her glamorous life on the app. Lissette, however, ran out of money within just a few months. A 2012 study by Fashonista showed that the life of an influencer, at that time, cost an average of 3,400 dollars per year, excluding basic expenses, such as rent, bills, food, and so on, and this figure continues to multiply as the influencer business continues to grow.