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Boot and Reboot

Posted on by meridan ritchie

This post is inspired by:

“If you know how capable you are, you’d stop worrying and start amazing yourself”.

Well. 2014 is over (add emotion here). It should be no surprise to what this post is about. If you have been on social media over the past week, you will see that social media’s job was to remind you of this past year — whatever that may be. Facebook took over the spotlight by creating “Your Year in Review” showing everything from status’, pictures, etc. I took a look at my year in review, and while what was spotlighted was good, it made me think of what wasn’t spotlighted, but still happened.

2014 for me was a disaster, but I also learned a lot about myself. Through heartbreak, lack of stability, a pure disconnection, a not-so friendly dose of mental illness, some failures, and a lot of miscommunication, I say good riddance to 2014. A lot happened in 2014, that’s for sure. It was quite a busy year that never quit.

Therefore, I created a “Life Lessons: Year in Review”. The top 6 things I learned in 2014.

1.) Disconnection isn’t always a negative: In a world where Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and iMessage take over one’s life, it’s tough to feel like you have some privacy. To me, there two different types of disconnection: feeling disconnection, and being disconnected. Feeling disconnected makes one feel like they aren’t connected to anything. I would rather be disconnected than feel disconnected. Being disconnected is having the privacy. Disconnection from the outside world, and appreciating what’s right in front of your face. This means, shutting off your phone, getting rid of social media, and enjoying life. I learned this lesson in a strange way, where I was mainly focusing on feeling disconnected. More on that to come.

2.) Facing, embracing and advocating for mental health: Mental health was huge for 2014. In the wake of suicide of actor Robin Williams, for one of the very first times, mental health issues were at the forefront. The same goes for myself, and my world of 2014. For those who know me, I’m a closed book. As in, a book where the pages are glued together, stapled shut, chained, and I threw the key in a dumpster. Well, 2014 changed that for me. It’s hard to say what came first, me opening up, or the depression and anxiety forcing me to open up. Nevertheless, it happened. I became committed to changing myself, going to therapy, and believing in myself a little more each day. That’s half the battle, or so people say. Sometimes just believing is enough to be the whole battle for one day. Or two.

3.) Paying attention to emotional pain: Emotional pain is real, and for most of us, it sits and stirs around inside us forever. Psychological pain to some is worse than physical pain. If something is bothersome, it has to be addressed after a day or two. 2014 taught me to address problems quicker, and be more in touch with what you want, and just as important, what you don’t want. If someone or something is causing emotional pain, and isn’t compromising to your demands, good riddance. 2014 has taught me the greater good of emotionally sticking up for myself, and ditching the bullshit.

4.) Taking action: 2014 taught me more about doing, and acting than I can even put into words. Through disappointments, false expectations, and then some, I have learned that the only thing you can do is put one foot in front of the other. Sometimes this is the hardest step, trust me I know. But what I also know, is that by taking the first step and putting on the shoe can sometimes make all the difference.

5.) Battling negative thinking: Yes. We all do it. We all think negatively, almost everyday either about a person, something someone said, the way someone looked you. Little things like that, and the negative thoughts start flowing. 2014 taught me to say “fuck feeling negative”, something that I’m doing little by little.

6.) Taylor Swift ruled 2014. Thank god for that.

** As an immediate add on to my list of things I hope for 2015, I will publicly announce here that I am on the hunt to find my own personal Joseph Gordon Levitt because he got secretively married over the holidays, and I’m in love with him**

Cheers to 2015, and good friends who let me use their wifi while a party is going on downstairs!

Take a deep breath and hold it in

Posted on by meridan ritchie

This post is inspired by:

“We waste our words, and we waste our moments, we don’t take the time to say the things that are in our hearts when we have the chance.”

So, it’s official. Tonight I write again. Yes, we all know it’s been a long time since I said I’d write again and then life got in the way. Seasons change, and next thing you know it’s September. How fast time flies. It makes me think about a lot — the seasons changing. Most importantly, or at least what’s on my mind now is the popular phone app Timehop. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s an app that “time travels” through your social media, given that you have given Timehop the permission to do so. And there you go, in a matter of seconds and a notification later, you have a personal diary of things you have tweeted, put as a status 5 years ago, or a picture on Instagram all right in front of you.

It’s a scary thought, having your past right in front of you. The best and worse memories, whatever rant you talked about on Twitter that day. Every time my notification goes off, I can’t wait to see and remember what I was like a year, 2 years, or even 6 years ago. Some of what I see, doesn’t sound like something I would have posted, or even looked like — but I guess that’s what time does. It changes you. One thing at least for me that doesn’t change, is how I felt about that particular moment I posted. I still get butterflies, and laugh at some things, but just as equally I get upset, and nostalgic for what life was like many (or not so many) moons ago. It’s a digital diary.

I can’t help but wonder if I was a better person before, or if life has changed me so much that there’s no way of becoming who I once was. Or whether I would want to go back or not. Timehop gives me at least the opportunity to temporarily go back and relive those days. To potentially go back, and see if I’m a better person. Yes, I’ve grown and changed throughout the past 6 years, even the last year. But is it better?

Do you ever just miss things from the past? Miss the way things used to be, miss who were friends with but then lost touch, miss the music you use to listen to but now can’t find it on your iTunes? And then all of the sudden out of nowhere it appears again. You run into a friend on the street, or hear the song on the radio, and that’s all you can think about? Don’t get me wrong, living in the past is a huge mistake, but it’s something one can never run from.

And that means something.