Anyone and No One,
I don’t know if you have ever heard of the (very) short-lived TV series Dead Like Me, but I have loved the series for quite some time no and have recently started re-watching the show for the first time in a few years and today while watching season one episode 2 I heard a brief exchange between two of the characters that really jumped out at me. The exchange took place as follows:
Rube: You like spaghetti, George? I like spaghetti. I like board games. I like grabbing a trifecta with that long shot on top… that ozone smell you get from air purifiers… and I like knowing the space between my ears is immeasurable… Mahler’s first, Bernstein conducting. You’ve got to think about all the things you like and decide whether they’re worth sticking around for. And if they are, you’ll find a way to do this.
George: And what if I don’t?
Rube: Then you go away, and you don’t get to like anything anymore.
I won’t go so far as to say that this is a MAJOR turning point for me, but to deny that this did not stand out to me would be inaccurate.
A few episodes later, season one episode five to be exact, another brief exchange between (the same) two characters stood out to me. That exchange went as follows:
George: Why do I keep losing all the things and people who I care about?
Rube: That’s what life is, Peanut.
Again, I wouldn’t say that it was any kind of major moment or turning point, but again it struck a chord with me. Of course these exchanges have absolutely nothing to do with what I am going through, but today those exchanges were able to grab my attention. As I said before I do not, in this moment, believe that the fact that these exchanges caught my attention is indicative of some major turning point looming directly ahead of me, but I did not want to intentionally bypass the opportunity to acknowledge that something caught my ear.
If I had to guess why these particular sets of words stood out to me I would have to say it’s most likely because they are not the usual platitudes that one struggling through something generally hears. That was, at the very least, refreshing especially for someone like me who hates the tired, worn out, meaningless and empty platitudes. Turning point or not these words, today, resonated with me and that can’t be a bad thing.