I'm pretty sure I'm not a normal TV or movie watcher. I don't give in to the lie that the people I watch are real, and the events I see are actually happening somewhere on the planet, I've just never run in to any of these characters before in real life. I watch TV shows and movies for a good story, and that's about it. Peering in on some fictional life for just a little chunk of time every week (or, with the DVDs now, as often as I damn well please) is quite satisfying. Little Miss Sunshine reflected the real life phenomenon that is all too rare: bonding and true understanding between a group of good people. This is the same reason I'm in love with The Royal Tenenbaums. And while Friends has this same kind of quality, there's a little something extra to it. It's more shallow than the movies I mentioned above, and therefore needs something else to keep it afloat.
I came upon the answer today, which has been the culmination of several days of emailing, calling, and posting facebook messages to my Colorado friends who I'm going to start to see in less than 24 hours. This dinky little TV show doesn't keep me interested because of the story (because, come on, there really isn't any). It keeps me interested because I wanted the comfortable-ness of any of those six people on the screen. The ability to be myself and enjoy other people being themselves in a safe and loving environment. Pretty hard to come by, believe it or not, and since Friends came out when I was attending Dunstan, I remember doubting that this sort of thing would ever happen to me. I've always been okay with who I was to some extent, but I've never been quick to expect anybody else to be.
It wasn't later until I learned that this was the very secret to friendship. Once I admitted that this loud-mouthed musician with a big chest, astigmatism, and an unnatural dedication to whatever new food she's found appetizing (currently caprese salads... I've been ordering them every place I go) was just going to be who she was (partly from herself, partly because when you look at her family, she comes by it pretty honestly), I suddenly started gaining friends. And not just any friends, but people I met and recognized as people I should never let go of. The best friends I've made are people who I've simply been drawn to and who return the mysteriously magnetic favor. And as the years go by, I can't get enough of them.
They're spread all over the country. I have these soulmates everywhere, including both coasts. And while I don't get to see them nearly as often as I'd like to sometimes, every time I do I manage to recharge my battery to myself. (Let me rephrase that, as it almost sounded dirty in my mind.) While I originally made this "I am who I am" revelation by myself, I become more of myself by being around the people who came to the same revelation. We were all isolated, coming from different places, and we've all seen each other grow. I count myself so lucky to have so many of these people in my life.
I know I praise my good friends a lot in this blog. And it's because I think the bond we've formed and will seemingly share forever is just about the coolest thing in the world.
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