Escape

I'm reading The Da Vinci Code right now, and there is a line in the book that really spoke to me: "men go to far greater lengths to avoid what they fear than to obtain what they desire..." Perhaps that is why the one thing that would make us happiest is most difficult to acquire: love. Perhaps we are more afraid of losing love than getting it, so we either do not try overtly to acquire it, or if we do, we subconsciously sabotage the process.

Maybe that is why we escape temporarily to live vicariously through tv shows and movies, because we can safely have our fantasies without the negative aspects of them, or fear losing them. And not just with romantic love, but other forms of happiness that money cannot buy such as friendships. I have to some degree prided myself on being somewhat of a non-conformist. I didn't watch the tv show Friends for a long time because 1) I didn't want to go along with what my peers were into and 2) I thought they were a bunch of annoying, immature 20-somethings who couldn't get a grip on their lives. To a large degree I think that's true, and add to that a not very creatively done sitcom that is predictable, like almost all sitcoms. But over the recent years I've appreciated the show for a number of reasons:

First, to have such a tightly-knit group of friends like that is rare today. And it's especially rare to be able to say something hurtful to a close friend and have it blow over in a few minutes. But how lovely to be able to have that kind of friendship in real life, wouldn't it?

Second, I can relate to Monica so often. I am unrealistically perfectionistic, hard on myself, and thus sometimes miss out on enjoying life. And how nice would it be that despite being ridicuously anal about keeping my apartment clean and tidy, I can still have friends over regularly, friends who love me with my little neurotic quirks.

Third, Monica and Chandler really have a non-stereotypical tv romance, without the drama involving cheating, and they are not only a couple, but are also best friends. They don't have to greet each other with a kiss at the end of every day, but sometimes greet each other with a high-five instead. It's a very intriguing and "real" relationship at the same time.

So escaping with our favorite characters is the way out of taking action to get what the characters have. So this is a challenge, for all of us to seek out those desires amidst the fears.