Losing My Religion
Before things get too deep, here are some fascinating and stunning films that relate to this topic…
1) Requiem for a Dream (2000) dir. Darren Aronofsky
“The drug-induced utopias of four Coney Island people are shattered when their addictions become stronger.”
2) Fight Club (1999) dir. David Fincher
“An insomniac office worker, looking for a way to change his life, crosses paths with a devil-may-care soap maker, forming an underground fight club that evolves into something much, much more...
3) Dallas Buyers Club (2013) dir. Jean-Marc Vallée
“In 1985 Dallas, electrician and hustler Ron Woodroof works around the system to help AIDS patients get the medication they need after he is diagnosed with the disease.”
4) It’s Kind of a Funny Story (2010) dir. Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck
“A clinically depressed teenager gets a new start after he checks himself into an adult psychiatric ward.”
5) Girl, Interrupted (1999) dir. James Mangold
“Based on writer Susanna Kaysen's account of her 18-month stay at a mental hospital in the 1960s.”
6) Edge of Seventeen (1998) dir. David Moreton
“A teenager copes with his sexuality on the last day of school in 1984. It shows him coping with being gay and being with friends.”
7) Tomboy (2011) dir. Céline Sciamma
“A 10-year old transgender boy moves to a new neighborhood with his family. He introduces himself as a boy for the first time to new friends.”
8) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind dir. Michel Gondry
“When their relationship turns sour, a couple undergoes a procedure to have each other erased from their memories. But it is only through the process of loss that they discover what they had to begin with.”
9) Wild (2014) dir. Jean-Marc Vallée
“A chronicle of one woman's 1,100-mile solo hike undertaken as a way to recover from a recent personal tragedy.”
10) The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012) dir. Stephen Chbosky
“An introvert freshman is taken under the wings of two seniors who welcome him to the real world.”
With school back in session and the semester half over, some of us might be contemplating pulling an Enid and leaving town without saying a word, if any of you are feeling this way…I can relate. October has been kind of a weird month for me, I remember some parts of the month like a sunshine daydream, but others are reminiscent of my depressing summer. I’ve been thinking a lot about over-consumption, American ideologies, and thinking “What is the point in living on the planet”.
Losing my religion, that can mean a lot of things. To me it means two thing, physically removing myself from the egocentric, virtually anyone-phobic, and racist vibes radiating from my past religion and getting rid of what I have been told to be. They brainwashed me to believe their conservative, anti-progressive views and for a long time…I believed them. That all changed when I became a feminist. I left the church (unofficially), researched, decided I was a Democrat/Green-Party and went on with my life. I experimented with spirituality and found serenity and comfort in Buddhism and Paganism. The reason I’m mentioning this is because I think it is so important to shed what doesn’t serve you.
Through my experiences I’ve learned to not always trust what people say, this might seem like kind of a bad habit, but in the long run I think it is so important to do your own research and to learn from every perspective. Also, it’s important to know that you do NOT have to follow what other people tell you to do. Our parents (usually) have our best interest at heart, but there is no rule book stating that you have to believe what they believe or even respect their beliefs. Obviously I feel that we should all respect every religion, but if one of your family members constantly makes racist, sexist, or homophobic comments, you do not have to make excuses for them.
Most of the time, I just shut my mouth because I hate getting into fights with my family, but I just want to let everyone know that it’s completely normal and okay to disagree with them. In regards to religion, all I want to say is that you have the right to practice whatever you want. If your parents are Muslim but you want to be Catholic, go ahead. If your parents are Christian, but you want to be Pagan, then go ahead. You practice what YOU believe, that is the most helpful advice I can give. Losing my religion also can mean getting rid of what you are taught to be in life, the words and ideas that your society teaches you. Challenge the norms that they set for you as often as you can and remember to always question why we follow these traditions in the first place.
Another thing I want to talk about is mental health, as a person who experiences O.C.D, Anxiety, and depression, I want you to know that it gets better. As of right now I am undiagnosed and do not take medication, but I know what I feel every day and I can relate to so many of you. The biggest issue that I have with my mind is intrusive thoughts. These are basically irrational, depressing, or anxious thoughts that pop in my head for no reason, without warning. They can be sparked by one event/comment or they could come from absolutely nowhere.
These thoughts, along with the other upsetting things that swim around in my head, can make me feel overwhelmed and confused sometimes. What I have learned from looking back on my anxiety attacks is how irrational my behavior is and how hard it is to see that in the moment. My challenge for all of you is to try and recognize (if you can) when you’re being irrational and even start practicing mental health techniques, because everyone has issues and everyone needs to take care of themselves.
Try taking hot baths listening to John Denver, Jackson Browne, or Don McClean, they have absolutely amazing voices and are so calming.
Write down in a journal about your good days (and sometimes your bad ones).
Make music playlists for every month, bring to yourself seasonal vibes and enjoy songs that bring you happiness (while also seeing how your music taste changes over the year).
Try to either listen to music, draw, write, or read 1 hour before you go to bed (instead of stare at your phone). It will help with your sleep and your mind.
Surround yourself with positive people and always keep in mind the complexity of the world (at least it makes my problems seem easier to fix).
Lastly, I want to remind everyone to LET GO every once in a while. Take a deep breath, pull in all your good vibes, and exhale positivity. I just really wanted to address this and I ho
