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Northern Exposure | |
January 04th, 2018 | |
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Do you have any TV shows in your life that speak to you with | |
a mystical connection? How about books, films? I don't mean that | |
you love reading or watching, or that the story is amazing, but | |
rather that the story meets you where you are in your life and | |
gives something to you that you were missing. Maybe it highlights | |
a situation you're feeling and a new way of looking at the world, | |
or maybe it brings you around to focus on what's really important; | |
but whatever the effect it is profound and personal. I really hope | |
you do have one of those. It's something special. | |
For me, it's the early 90's TV show Northern Exposure. When I'm | |
stuck in my head and I need something to jar me loose, I'll put on | |
a random episode. It's like a tarot reading or something. Without | |
fail that episode is what I needed. | |
"Up River" is my favorite episode of the series, where Joel heads | |
to a remote native villiage called Manonash for a house call and | |
decides to stay. It has had a profound impact on my life choices. | |
It has been at the heart of my inspirations to let go of my | |
current life and go in a new direction. It is part of the reason | |
I dropped out of college the first time around and joined the | |
Navy. It was there when I started discerning a call to the | |
priesthood. It was there before I decided to propose to my wife. | |
Likewise, "Fish Story", with its mystical experiences for Joel in | |
the belly of the beast, or Ruth-Anne's biker gang escapades, comes | |
to me when I need to remember that my expectations don't matter | |
for shit in the face of what will come. But that's okay, and | |
pretty often it's in letting go that we find growth. There's so | |
much spirituality underlying the repeatedly undercut expectations | |
of the characters that I find something new in each viewing. | |
I could go on, but this phlog isn't really about me outlining why | |
I adore each specific episode of this random show. I hope that in | |
naming it and sharing it you might acknowledge something in your | |
own life that can help you the same way. If so, let me know. If | |
nothing comes to mind... well, you probably just need to watch | |
Northern Exposure. | |