Restart and Reboot Yourself

Prompt: Take a line from a song that you love or connect with. Now forget the song, and turn that line into the title or inspiration for your post.

The song in question is U2’s “Unknown Caller”–a song from their No Line On The Horizon album, which constantly amazes me with its depth and emotion, not to mention awesome music. I think one of the reasons this song so strongly resonates with me is this concept: “restart and reboot yourself.”

Hasn’t everyone felt, at some point in life, that a reboot is needed? I know I have. And for me, I feel like 2012 was that year. 2012 was the year I started an “issue” blog (separate from my personal blogging), got a job that uses my BA in History/Creative Writing for the first time in my life, turned 36 (which one of my Facebook friends pointed out is 6-squared, which is all kinds of awesome), and revised a good portion of the novel closest to my heart–the one I’m going to spend 2013 trying to get published.

“Restart and reboot yourself–you’re free to go.”

Yes, that’s the appeal of a reboot–freedom. A fresh start. Something new. Going back to the essence of yourself, without all the junk that gets installed and downloaded and virused up over the course of daily living. Run a health check. Delete those unused programs and habits that are just clogging up the system. 

“Shout for joy if you get the chance.”

Go on, do it right now. Close your eyes and give a big old whoop of happiness. “WOOHOO!” Ignore the people in the cubicles around you or sitting nearby at the coffee shop. Forget that you’re on the commuter train with standing room only. Don’t worry about whether the dog is going to think you’ve gone insane. Just smile and make a joyful noise.

Done? Did you notice how it makes you feel? You can’t make a joyful noise without smiling. You can’t smile–genuinely smile–without it making you feel better. I’m sitting on my bed as I type this, my two cats chasing each other. I’m not unhappy, the word I would use is probably content, but I’m also not feeling particularly joyful. Until I shout.

Isn’t it crazy? Making a joyful noise makes you feel joyful. Letting out a few loud woohoos has lifted my mood from content into something that feels energized and empowered and ready to create something.

I feel like I’ve restarted. Rebooted.

I feel free.