A memorial: realities of 21st Century adult-hood.
Have you ever been driving along a road that you're way too familiar with, and just, zoned out?
And while you're on that road, you see something that triggers you to flashback to a memory?
It could be a memory of childhood, of teendom, of family and friends - sometimes they're not the greatest memories; other times they're more pleasant. It's a blur of images in your mind, an echoing of sounds that come from that moment. It's a song that you hear on the radio. Or a corny Dad joke that reminds you of something.
I have that.
Every. Single. Day.
I think that it's easy to be an over-thinker, but when I recently became diagnosed with PTSD, also known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, I realised that these thoughts were a trigger of previous memories. I could comprehend, that maybe my thoughts weren't the same as yours.
I've been advised by professional's on how to deal with these thoughts: to accept, to realise, and to acknowledge the flashback. To compare them to a cloud floating past, and to not pull it down towards gravity. But to let them (the thoughts) continue on their journey of floating, back up into the imaginative atmosphere.
It can be super-flipping hard though. Especially when it's a good memory, and you watch it float away - simply to avoid being triggered.
Lately I've been reminded of happy memories; the smells and freshness of the Australian Autumn air. The sound of a breeze brushing the tall Gumtree's. I don't know about you, but when I was younger I'd spend hours lying on the trampoline watching clouds float by. Making cloud shapes into images or animals. When do we stop being so childlike and start overthinking things?
Normally I take time to appreciate and acknowledge a moment or memory; even blinking or looking at your phone in this era can mean missing out on something valuable. We totally underestimate the influence that technology places on us, our mentality and our experience.
I'm a victim of being glued to my phone - I think it's called FOMO fear-of-missing-out.
That crave for inclusion, satisfaction, rush of adrenaline and endorphins which appeal to addiction. It is a daily battle for me to live without my phone or social media. I've always wondered what life would look like, if mobile phones and Facebook weren't a thing. To be honest, I think we all have at some point - correct me if I'm wrong 😉
Life would be like a 90's movie, like 10 Things I Hate About You; waiting for the next day to tell your crush that you like him or to tell your best friend about your high-school crush. The thought of having to accept patience is crazy right?! I literally cannot imagine life without instant technology and messaging.
If there's one thing that I can take out of a memorial of memory, experience and appreciating every moment - is that we need more.
More time appreciating family and friends - less time glued to a phone screen and Instagram, and more time investing in the moment and people around us. Even spending more time looking after ourselves - hitting up the gym, having meditating moments or reading a book.
Imagine a world of communication, face-to-face, rather than instant technology and social-media. Honestly, I couldn't tell you what it would look like - but if we start appreciating these moments and memories more, we're halfway there.
It's scary to even imagine what our generation and future generations will look like in 10 years. We will we all be walking around asking Siri questions, telling google home to turn on the oven?
Anyway - there's a bunch of things for you to overthink, coming from an over thinker, and hopefully you can take something out of the conundrum of words.
And while you're on that road, you see something that triggers you to flashback to a memory?
It could be a memory of childhood, of teendom, of family and friends - sometimes they're not the greatest memories; other times they're more pleasant. It's a blur of images in your mind, an echoing of sounds that come from that moment. It's a song that you hear on the radio. Or a corny Dad joke that reminds you of something.
I have that.Every. Single. Day.
I think that it's easy to be an over-thinker, but when I recently became diagnosed with PTSD, also known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, I realised that these thoughts were a trigger of previous memories. I could comprehend, that maybe my thoughts weren't the same as yours.
I've been advised by professional's on how to deal with these thoughts: to accept, to realise, and to acknowledge the flashback. To compare them to a cloud floating past, and to not pull it down towards gravity. But to let them (the thoughts) continue on their journey of floating, back up into the imaginative atmosphere.
It can be super-flipping hard though. Especially when it's a good memory, and you watch it float away - simply to avoid being triggered.
Lately I've been reminded of happy memories; the smells and freshness of the Australian Autumn air. The sound of a breeze brushing the tall Gumtree's. I don't know about you, but when I was younger I'd spend hours lying on the trampoline watching clouds float by. Making cloud shapes into images or animals. When do we stop being so childlike and start overthinking things?
Normally I take time to appreciate and acknowledge a moment or memory; even blinking or looking at your phone in this era can mean missing out on something valuable. We totally underestimate the influence that technology places on us, our mentality and our experience.
I'm a victim of being glued to my phone - I think it's called FOMO fear-of-missing-out.
That crave for inclusion, satisfaction, rush of adrenaline and endorphins which appeal to addiction. It is a daily battle for me to live without my phone or social media. I've always wondered what life would look like, if mobile phones and Facebook weren't a thing. To be honest, I think we all have at some point - correct me if I'm wrong 😉
Life would be like a 90's movie, like 10 Things I Hate About You; waiting for the next day to tell your crush that you like him or to tell your best friend about your high-school crush. The thought of having to accept patience is crazy right?! I literally cannot imagine life without instant technology and messaging.
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| 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) |
If there's one thing that I can take out of a memorial of memory, experience and appreciating every moment - is that we need more.
More time appreciating family and friends - less time glued to a phone screen and Instagram, and more time investing in the moment and people around us. Even spending more time looking after ourselves - hitting up the gym, having meditating moments or reading a book.
Imagine a world of communication, face-to-face, rather than instant technology and social-media. Honestly, I couldn't tell you what it would look like - but if we start appreciating these moments and memories more, we're halfway there.
It's scary to even imagine what our generation and future generations will look like in 10 years. We will we all be walking around asking Siri questions, telling google home to turn on the oven?
Anyway - there's a bunch of things for you to overthink, coming from an over thinker, and hopefully you can take something out of the conundrum of words.
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