Being unhappy is back in fashion

Hey, nice, I had a crappy day. Wonderful. Finally. Because being a little unhappy is really trendy.

We live in a world where we spend two hours a day on social media. We all know: on social media, everything is beach, happiness, in love, sweet, and oh so cozy. There is always someone in the Bahamas. There is always someone who is pregnant or has given birth or is engaged or married or celebrating a birthday or has been promoted. That impacts our own sense of happiness. Many studies show that not using social media makes people happier because they compare themselves less with others and feel less like they are ‘missing out’ on something. Scientific research also shows that people become unhappier from frequently using platforms like Facebook. In fact, Facebook itself has said that. People tend to think their lives are insignificant because they always see a half photo of someone experiencing something cool. While that is not the case, of course, because those people also spend all the other 364 days of the year at home on the couch, in an ugly tracksuit with slippers, scrolling through their timeline.

Yet it seems the tide has turned. Because we are, even on social media, old-fashioned unhappy again. We are honestly showing our fellow humans that there are also days when we do not count rainbows and sip golden cocktails in the sun. We dare to talk publicly about lesser days, rocky situations at home, insecurities, imperfections, and beauty flaws. We honestly tell colleagues when the daily grind becomes too much, we share it with our friends when we go to a psychologist because we just don't know anymore and that we work are in a slump . The waiting lists for coaches and career experts have never been this long. We talk about misery.. And that is fantastic. Because remember: no matter how much you wish it were different, without friction there is no shine. You cannot always be over the moon if you do not know miserable moments. Everyone has a bad day sometimes, everyone has a little slump sometimes, everyone feels down sometimes or is.

. From now on, we no longer have to keep up that clean facade. Even social media has changed: happiness is hotter than ever. grumpy. So enjoy your terrible down day. Before you know it, you will be incredibly happy again.

Japan is the only country where Twitter is bigger than Facebook.

FACTS

• Almost 20% of Dutch adults will experience depression at some point
• On Instagram, there are 87.6 million posts with the hashtag happiness
• Being unhappy is back in fashion: Amayzine.com