Real Talk

Some connections come back around. But that doesn’t mean they’re meant to stay.

In real life, reconnection and mental health don’t always move in the same direction.

This is where reconnection and mental health intersect in ways we don’t talk about enough.

Rick Ollie shares a personal perspective on reconnection and mental health, exploring how past connections can resurface without needing to become present-day relationships. This Real Talk reflection focuses on emotional boundaries, personal growth, and understanding what reconnection really means.

The Message That Brought It Back

A couple years ago, Lisa commented on a Facebook post of mine. We had met decades earlier at a College Newspaper Awards ceremony—one of those moments where two people cross paths and eventually moved on.

She had found me weeks prior through a ‘Meet Me‘ article I had written about my best friend, Tara.

This particular post was about May being Mental Health Awareness Month in which I attached the song to.

“It’s funny, every time I heard this song over the past 40-ish years I wondered what you were up to. It was playing that whole weekend in GR at the newspaper gathering.”

The song?

Tainted Love.

Why That Song Matters

If you know the song, you know it’s not soft nostalgia. It’s complicated. It carries distance. It says something didn’t quite fit, even if it mattered.

Over the years, I had thought about Lisa too. Also, in a way that lingered.

That part is only human.

Reconnection and Mental Health

Here’s the part we don’t talk about enough especially during Mental Health Awareness Month.

Not every reconnection is meant to turn into a relationship. That’s the reality of reconnection and mental health—boundaries matter.

And pushing it to become one can do more harm than good.

We’ve been conditioned to believe that when someone reappears, it means something bigger. That it’s fate. That it’s unfinished. That we should explore it.

But sometimes… it’s none of those things.

Sometimes it’s just recognition. And understanding that is a big part of protecting your mental health during reconnection.

A moment where two people can acknowledge. “Yeah—you were part of my life once.” And as loving or friendly as it was, leave it there.

Reconnection and Mental Health: Knowing the Difference

Growth is like understanding the difference between a meaningful memory and a meaningful direction. They’re not always the same thing.

For me, Lisa’s message didn’t open a door. It didn’t need to. What it did was remind me that even across 40 years—through different lives, different paths, everything life throws at you—some connections leave a mark.

Not one you need to act on nor one you need to revisit. Just one you can respect. Because reconnection and mental health aren’t about going backward—they’re about staying grounded in who you are now.

Sure, you can wish them well on special days and be supportive of their endeavors in life. That’s part of being a decent human.

The Real Talk Takeaway

Today is National Silence the Shame Day—a reminder that conversations around mental health matter. Not just the obvious ones, but the quiet, complicated ones too. The kind we don’t always say out loud.

Like reconnection.

Like the emotions that come with and knowing when something meaningful isn’t meant to become something current.

Peace isn’t found in chasing every connection that resurfaces. It’s found in knowing which ones to appreciate… and which ones to leave exactly where they are.

And Lisa is one I appreciate.

Real Talk.

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