Likely Normal

Sometimes, even our escapes from reality come with deadlines, guilt, and the crushing weight of self-imposed expectations. We’ve reached a point where our hobbies don’t relax us; they assign us homework. Gone are the days of casually enjoying a TV show. Now, if you’re not bingeing an entire season in one sleepless, snack-fueled marathon, are you even a fan?

Take the “Must-Watch Immediately” Crisis. A new season drops at midnight, and suddenly, you’re not just a person who enjoys a show—you’re a soldier in the Spoiler Wars. If you don’t finish within 24 hours, some meme-happy monster on Twitter will ruin the twist, and then what was it all for? So you cancel plans, ignore texts, and mainline episodes like it’s your job, only to realize: Wait, I’m not getting paid for this. I’m not even having fun anymore. I’m just… tired.

Then there’s the Gaming Backlog Guilt. Your Steam library looks less like a collection of games and more like a to-do list from a sadistic productivity app. You bought that open-world RPG because it looked fun, but now it just looms over you, whispering, “You’ll never 100% me.” What was supposed to be leisure now feels like a second job—one where your boss is a fictional elf who judges you for skipping side quests.

Let’s not forget Social Media FOMO Fatigue. You opened Instagram to unwind, but now you’re stressed because your vacation photos aren’t as aesthetic as that influencer’s fake “casual” beach shot. You were just trying to relax, but now you’re Googling “how to pose like you weren’t desperately trying to pose.” Congratulations—you’ve turned scrolling into a competitive sport.

And who could ignore the Book Club Pressure? You joined to enjoy literature, but now you’re speed-reading 300 pages the night before the meeting, highlighting random passages to fake deep insights (“The symbolism of… uh… the blue curtains really spoke to me?”). You’re not reading for pleasure; you’re cramming for a test nobody will grade.

The irony is thick enough to cut with a knife: We stress about relaxing correctly. We treat our downtime like a race to consume as much content as possible, then wonder why we feel like we’ve accomplished nothing. “I just watched 12 hours of TV. Why am I exhausted?” Because, my friend, you didn’t watch a show—you defeated it.

Signs You’ve Turned Fun Into Stress:

• You’ve ever said “I don’t have time to relax—I’m behind on my shows.”
• Your “self-care” involves scheduling time to force yourself to enjoy things.
• You feel guilty for playing a video game without completing all the achievements.
• You’ve angrily shushed someone for interrupting your very important binge session.

The solution? Maybe we all need to chill—and not in the “I’ll relax after I finish this season” way. Real relaxation might mean watching one episode and then… stopping. Revolutionary, I know. So go ahead, close that laptop. The shows will still be there tomorrow. Probably. Unless Twitter spoilers win. Dang it, fine—one more episode.