Sunday, August 21, 2011

Everything, Everyone, Everywhere, Ends



Has anyone else noticed the game people are playing on Facebook at the moment? Where someone posts a year on a friend's page and in response the friend fills their status with corresponding memories? I’m going to steal this concept, only instead of writing about specific years, this week I’m going to write about things that had a profound impact on me; the type of impact that can only occur during adolescence.

The first thing I want to share with you is the HBO series Six Feet Under.

Julia Millionaire introduced me to the series when I was in year 11. It made a huge impact on me then, and after watching the final season again this weekend, I can see why.

Six Feet Under is superbly scripted and shot. Each episode has at least one line that makes you sit and reflect on your own life. It sounds a little naff, but the series really is a celebration of life. From birth to death it reiterates the unbelievable fact that we have total control over our lives and consequentially our happiness.




"I’m just saying you only get one life. There’s no god, no rules, no judgments. Except for those you accept or create for yourself and once its over, its over. Dreamless sleep forever and ever. So why not be happy while your here?

Really. Why not?"


It’s so easy to forget how much choice we actually have over our happiness, and so easy to feel trapped or not act on what we’re really feeling due to fear. Six Feet Under reminds me of this, and accordingly hits me hard. Really hard.




"All we have is this moment, right here, right now. The future is just a fucking concept that we use to avoid being alive today.

So, be here now
"


When I first watched Six Feet Under I had no idea what I wanted to be, what direction I wanted to go in, or who I was. I lived in a state of constant fear not believing myself to be good enough for anyone or anything, wondering when my friends and family would figure it out. This weekend while watching the final season again I realised that the way I’m living completely reflects what I want. I've somehow ended up in a job I adore, I’m honest and open about how I feel and I’m lucky enough to be surrounded by people I love. Lordy, how self-actualised.




Whether it’s because the television show is incredible, or whether it’s due to where I’m up to in my cycle, Six Feet Under really packed a punch this afternoon. A lot has changed since 2005 when its final episode aired, but my reaction to it certainly hasn’t. I’m not going to lie, I was a blubbering wreck.




Anyone else find it somewhat hilarious that Alan Ball went on to create True Blood?

1 comment:

djstevebrown said...

hahaha, ...you said naff!