My own #10YearChallenge
To those people that are not familiar with the “10 Year Challenge”, it’s the last trend on social media. To take part, you only need to post two pictures side by side, one being from 2009 and a current one (from 2019).
This #10YearChallenge thing made me think, not so much about the physical differences between the 31 years old Nico and the ten years younger version, but rather the differences concerning lifestyle and mentality. It’s easy to forget who we were ten years ago, I cannot remember many things. To better recall that period I consulted Facebook’s history and took a snoop to what seemed to me the life of another person, but was actually my own.
Through that research, I recalled that at that time I used to love going out at night to party with my friends. My life was all about going to the University and going out at night. When I was not barricaded at the Faculty of Architecture in a race against time to finish some project that wasn’t done till the last moment (in fact I left them all to the last moment), I had a very sociable life, with lots going on. Even the nights that I didn’t get any sleep, because I was working, where fun. Through Facebook I can also see that I was very active in this networking website. I used to update my status on daily basis with some sort of sentence that I found funny or bold — while reading those sentences I feel quite a second hand embarrassment (but in fact a first hand) — and used to comment pictures and status from other people.
In 2009 I was in the first year of my Master in Fashion Design (a master that I never got to conclude) and was trying to be as much as possible in the hub of the Portuguese fashion scene, taking the plunge in every professional opportunity. I think I pictured myself working, 10 years from then, as a “Senior Designer” in some more or less famous ready-to-wear brand.
Back then, I used to take more than an hour to get ready after trying out various outfits and look at my reflection in the mirror dozens of times. I used to value my image so much, but mostly what others would think of it. I always thought of me as a pretty girl and to me the true challenge — by dressing, styling my hair, choosing accessories and doing my make up — was to look edgy, unusual and “stylish”. And obviously, part of the challenge was to make as if all of that was effortless and natural. In truth, all of this ended up giving me anxiety and frustration, because not every day I could achieve those goals and when I would leave the house thinking that I wasn’t looking my best, the day was doomed to be a shitty one. I would waste so much time.
Now trying to remember how my health was back then. I still had many of my health issues that I talked about in previous articles, such as breathing allergies, morning dizziness and digestive problems. I guess I didn’t have much of a sedentary lifestyle although I didn’t have any physical activity related to sports. I used to drink tons of alcoholic beverages and my meals consisted mainly of pasta, cheese, eggs, meat and bread.
In fact I can’t recall much more, and really feel like those are memories from a past life. But with some effort I recognise it wasn’t. What really happened were some (many) changes in the context and some (maybe not so much) maturation. I can’t tell if Nico from 10 years ago could recognise herself in this current version, so different at first sight.
I think that most important in this type of reflexion is not to focus (as I think most of us do) only on those things that changed for the better, or for the worst, but instead to understand what we learned from the past and what it still has to teach us.
You know (if you have read previous articles) that I feel more aligned with my body and self image than I used to feel in the past, and that I’m grateful for all events that led me to take the lead of my nutrition which improved significantly my health.
But when it comes to my social life, for instance, I think I have a lot to learn with the younger Nico. Nowadays I keep alive great past friendships. Those friendships fill me up with renewed energy every time I revive them, but those moments are scarce. Having the support of a network of friends that live close physically, with whom you can be daily and able to count on to go for a stroll and have a coffee to speak about life and chill, is as important to health (mental and physical) just as getting proper nutrition and being physically active. 21 years old Nico didn’t like to be alone, I start to think that the 31 years old Nico likes it way to much.
This reflexion made me come to conclusion that I have to make a better effort to feed new friendships, with like minded people close by.
When it comes to my professional life I have to reflect a little more. I have the feeling that college Nico still has something to teach me about that.
How were you ten years ago? What can you recall from that period? What do you think you could teach your younger version? What can your younger self teach you?
