Just a vent.......Start of Shravan Maas (auspicious period) and people start sharing their pooja pics and forwards and starts the competition of who will be the best 'bhakt' . I wish ladies keep the shrine pics to themselves. It feels more about getting approval and attention from others than their interest in the rituals. When not replied or complimented they ask why I don't have interest and ready to give their needless gyan. One friend went to the extent of assuming some random things. Some ladies say they forward the pics because people who do not have time for doing pooja will feel happy ...what ??....no, it creates pressure.
I so relate to this and wish people take the essence of pooja and religious rituals and apply in their life rather than just boasting and oversharing pics !!
Apart from Pooja pics, one of the irritating thing is people posting what they've cooked for particular festival or religious occasion...it creates unnecessary expectation on those of us who are unable to do elaborate cooking..unnecessary comparisons too..one of my in laws side relative will always prepare elaborate sweets and savouries for festival. She has a full time live in helper who does full cooking cleaning and looks after her kids so she has the free time and help for doing this..whereas I prefer to make one or two sweets which are easier..as I have a heavy workload of domestic chores already. .she will post all these pics of sweets and snacks made by her on family groups and in laws will see and compare.. that's something I hate.
That time of the year starts...where all whatsapp bhakts have surfaced today sharing food and how dedicated is their devotion.
there is option to mute posts for certain days see if it works . Different people have diff ways to show Bhakti . As long as they are not hurting sentiments I don’t see anything wrong in people parading their their Bhakti. I get lot of inspiration and ideas from social media . Now a days my fashion sense has improved so much . Just be mindful of whom you follow and enjoy . It also helps me to keep tab on teenager trends.
Trendy outfits, fashion and other ideas are welcome but pooja is something which should be very personal ,IMO. Sadly, only ladies project how good devotees they are by sharing the food/naivedya they prepare. Men don't do normally.
Why ? It is your opinion doesn’t mean everyone has to follow the same I learnt many rituals during lockdown by following many Maami’s in social media . I’m grateful they are sharing their knowledge on dressing up God to kolam to bhakshanam to shlokam to recite . Spiritual seeking can be done privately or publicly . I wouldn’t have known where to get certain dolls if it were not for those women . You signed up to follow them . It is their personal space to post what they want . They don’t need approval from anyone . It is their choice. Social media is good for anyone who has content to share including spiritual journey
I kind of get what you are saying. I used to think like that about most of the sharing I see in Whatsapp and FB. People sharing pictures about their religious celebrations, Karva Chauth, Rakhi, kid's sweet 16 party, girl's voni ceremony, boy's dhoti ceremony, high school graduation party. In my gardening groups, people say "my zen corner", and "my husband made this trellis" and post pictures of gardens that looked straight out of magazines like BHG. The cooking groups used to haunt me. I needed the recipes and had to participate to not get chucked out. But the pictures of food from women that went "just got back after a ten day trip. managed only a quick wholesome healthy dinner." Their quick dinner is easily my dream dinner. : ) The kid's graduation parties hurt the most. First of all, I won't have that many people to invite. : ) In one party, they had a slide show that listed all the colleges the kid had got accepted to. Note that kid can attend only one college. : ) OK.. not only they listed all the acceptances, they also shared the acceptance rate of each college. : ) Since I know firsthand how much the kid and parent would have slogged, I didn't grudge them that sharing. Same for any sharing people do on social media. They want to share their joy. Maybe a little bit of showing off too, but who doesn't show off in their own way? It is fairly easy to appreciate and acknowledge their sharing, and let it go. No one can make us join an argument or competition without our consent. No one can create "pressure" or "expectations" for us if we don't recognize those. If they actually ask "why didn't you click Like? why didn't you comment?" either they feel close enough to you to ask that or they simply crave approval and praise. If our own family compares us to those "sharers" and puts us down, then we have issues in our family. I am not a believer but it feels good to see the pictures people shared with me. I remember my surprise on learning that some Home Depot locations in the U.S. carry golu steps! If it were not for people sharing pictures on social media, I doubt Home Depot would decide to sell Made in China golu steps. : ) OK this became a ramble ... the point is live and let live. If sharing their personal stuff like prayer and worship brings people happiness, so be it. Now, when it comes to random "Forwards" ... Grrrr.. I mostly leave the group.
Op thank god you are not in my whatsapp n Instagram to view my status navratri time- everyday my status is filled with naivedhya, my saree pics going with that day's color theme. I'm not sure how many have muted me because they may find all this annoying. But I do have a few fans who end up asking why daily status of pooja, naivedhya and saree pics aren't posted yet. They send messages they are waiting for my updates, why I haven't posted yet. #smallhappiness. Don't get pressurised. There's a mute button to mute people like me . Few like it keep it low profile. It's okay. It's their choice. Few like to share and it's their choice. I have muted so many Instagrammers's stories who post every minute of their life but their is content. So I don't unfollow completely but mute their daily updates . I follow one who posts her daily pooja. I felt pressurised and wanted to unfollow but as Mangaii said I also learn from her. So I follow her but mute daily updates but this time I have her daily updates. Reason I copy her daily neivedhya. It gives me ideas without spending much time on what I should be preparing the next day. It's boon for me and I'm thankful to her. I even sent a message how helpful her daily updates are for people like me who can just copy her recipes. She seem to be happy about it and replied positively
Op, I understand your concern. Once upon a time, I was also happy to share status, update status and look at others updates, pic, status with great interest. But now I am going through a bad time and I feel don't these people have any other work to put so many status and updates. So I mute if any of the contacts post more than 3 4 pics. Its a waste of my time when I am not interested to watch it. You can also mute when you find it annoying. All people will not have the state of mind all the time. So it is perfectly ok for you to feel bore/as showoff when others put status.
