It's the day after Thanksgiving and I can still feel the effects of the damage I did to my body yesterday. I'm sitting in my living room of my college house on my green leather couch. The house is quiet; other roommates have disbursed for the Thanksgiving break. I'm here sharing some random thoughts I have, as I have them on my couch. I'll probably do a Part 2 version soon as well, just for the heck of it.

Something about 2016 has just been overall hectic, it seems. Sure, you can look back at other notable years and say they were not ideal, but the overall feeling of this whole year has been a bit weary. Famous people have been passing away often, the election has been stressful and tense, and everyone around me seems more on-edge than usual. I think everyone is a little bit more afraid this year. Many are afraid of specific things like losing civil rights, handling their education, or family issues. But I think the vast majority are feeling on-edge because the tensions are in the air and we are stressing each other out. I'm sure many of you will chalk this year up as a not-so-good-one, but for your own reasons. Even for myself, this year has not been particularly awful or tragic, yet something has been off. People have been harsh with each other around me, and the more optimistic ones are exhausting themselves trying to compensate and make everyone happy. As a student, I can say that the coming winter break will be greatly welcomed and necessary for everyone to take a deep breath and go into the new year with a renewed sense of purpose.

One thing I have been thinking about lately is that we need to reach out to each other more. I think too many friendships are lost simply due to a lack of communication. Then we end up with two parties who begin to think negatively about someone else as if they don't care. The reality is often that each person is busy leading a unique life, and communication drops off. This is fine if you realize you do not value them as much as you once did, but it could also be an instance where you just begin to forget. Sometimes I will think about someone who is a good friend, and someone whom I hold in high regard. Maybe I do not really talk to this person anymore, for not good reason. I feel guilty for this, and then remind myself that with our phones and computers, a simple hello is always at our fingertips.

Every person out there is a collection of emotions, thoughts, and experiences that, like yours, are unique. A past memory of someone you cared about includes them and their history, too, not just yours. I feel as though we regard past memories with a sweep of emotions. We get out a brush and quickly go over the canvas and the color that shows up is how we see the memory. Yet, if you take a moment and really remember details, you can illustrate more about it than you thought possible. You might remember the way someone laughed or what they were wearing.

I guess out of all of this incoherent Green Couch rambling, the idea I am trying to convey is this: if someone is important to you, tell them. It doesn't matter if you haven't talked in a while, or if you have never talked before; if someone has impacted you in a positive way, let them know. It can make a world of difference.