Guys I found my old cellphone from when I was 13. I’ve found several silly memories on it, from a gallery chock full of Dipper Pines and Carl Grimes, to a weird selfie I attempted without my front camera, and a fanfiction that made me laugh my a$$ off. (I was surprisingly good at writing for being thirteen, but the escalation of the storyline was complete crap!!)
But what has made me the happiest about finding it is the music library. My 13 year old self was so damaged but so optimistic. I really needed this to remember who I was when I was like Carmen and Stan, but also to motivate my current self. There’s so much childlike innocence inside that stupid little cellphone, and I’ve reconnected with a song that I used to listen to to keep myself alive.
My childhood was, to say the least, not ideal. But I was still so happy and optimistic because I knew no different. Children are so resilient because they don’t understand the gravity of any situation they find themselves in. From such a young age, I was aware that my life wasn’t normal, but I chose to stay happy. I found something else in the gallery of the phone too, one of my favorite quotes:
❝you can never choose where you come from,
but you can always decide where you go from there.❞ — Stephen Chobsky.
Children are so wise without realizing it. If you have a child in your life, remind them they’ll miss their current mindset in a few years, even if growing up is so hard!
- j. malline
