14 Apr 10 Things I Couldn’t Live Without

So remember when I said I was going to try to challenge myself at this whole WEGO Health Activist Writer’s Month Challenge thing? And remember when I said I was really going to try to keep up with it? Well, besides the fact that I realized you would all be very annoyed with a blog everyday (let’s face it, you like to see them here and there, not all the time), but my life, over the past week has been thrown for a little bit of a loop.

I am not going to get into any details except to say that I am living out of a suitcase in NYC for the next 3 weeks before I move back to Toronto. I’m basically counting down the days until I move back for a number of reasons that I will share in a more exciting post.

In the meantime, this post is actually to get myself back into this WEGO HAWMC challenge. Yes, I’ve clearly already failed at it-horribly-but I’d like to at least give it another go. It’s only been 13 days into the month, after all..

Well, really, the reason I wanted to post another one of these blogs is because today’s topic is actually currently relevant to my life. As I said, I’m living out of a suitcase and have realized how necessary certain items can be. Well, today’s topic is about the 10 things you couldn’t live without, and within the past week, I have become extremely aware of what those things are. So, to take another stab at this blogging challenge, here are the 10 things I couldn’t live without:

1. Ostomy Supplies. Duh. But like-really. If I didn’t have ostomy supplies with me, I basically would not be able to function/leave the house. My fellow ostomates out there know EXACTLY what I mean.
2. Cell Phone. I know this is a very #firstworldproblems kind of necessity, but honestly, I couldn’t live without it. Between connecting with my groups for school projects, to emails about work, to simply feeling safe on a walk home late at night in NYC- I need my cell phone. Of course, I also need it to talk to the people I care about most, and without my cellphone, it would be quite difficult to do so. [Pay phones, you say? If you can find me one within 2 miles of where I am right now, I will give up my cell phone for a week.]
3. Clean Water. Is this too obvious? Or not obvious enough? Again, another #firstworldproblem thing… But seriously, I am blessed to live in a part of the world where clean water can be accessed everywhere, yet it is still a necessity to me. Not only is water essential to life, it is even more essential to those without colons who can’t absorb it from food. Water=life.
4. Cereal. Of course, if you need water, you need some sort of food. If I had to live off one food forever, it would definitely be a cereal; a good cereal too, like Kashi cereal or something with protein. Not only is it easy to digest, but it can fill you up. Pair a bowl of dry Kashi Go LEAN cereal with a nice tall glass of water and I have everything I need to stay alive. I could do it.
5. A Sweater. For some reason, I am perpetually cold. Maybe it’s the ice that runs through my veins, or maybe it’s the fact that I don’t have enough internal organs to keep me insulated. No matter what, I am always cold at one point of the day. A sweater is a necessity.
6. Shoes. Well, if we’re getting technical,  you always need a pair of shoes.
7. Sunlight. Sun makes me unbelievably happy. Put me in that ray of vitamin D at least once a week and I’m good to go. I never appreciated how much I needed the sun until that one summer where I worked at Hollister in the mornings and a restaurant, that was dimly lit without windows, at night. Sun is essential.
8. My Brain. This too may seem a little strange, but to me, it makes perfect sense. If I did not have the capacity to make decisions, make conversation, take in knowledge, or teach knowledge, there would be no reason for me to be alive.
9. Passport. Just in case.
10. And last but not least: The Ones I Love. In my short 22 years of life, I have experienced enough hardship and tragedy to realize that the only things that really matter are thepeople who you care about and who care about you. I could do without the sweater because I would have someone to hold me. I could do without the sunlight because I could have someone to make me smile. I could do without the passport because there would be no need leave the person I care about. Loved ones are the most important part of life, and I couldn’t live without them.