I love TV. I know I’m not supposed to. It’s bad for my brain and I know I get addicted to the TV shows. I’ve tried being one of those trendy kids that doesn’t have cable or anything like that. About a year ago I broke down and got a subscription to Netflix. Netflix is actually worse than Cable TV as you can watch whatever you want whenever you want. My most recent obsessions are Doctor Who, Burn Notice and Alias.
These shows take the “ordinary” person and make them into something extraordinary. Tonight on the plane to Ecuador they showed the new Spider Man movie. It’s really similar to all of these TV shows that I’ve become enamored with. In Doctor Who there is always a companion picked up, seemingly at random, who becomes an essential part of the Doctor’s escapades. In Spider Man, Peter Parker is a seemingly normal teenager until bitten by the spider. In Alias, Agent Sydney Bristow tries to live a normal life while being a super bad ass double agent. In Burn Notice every day objects are made into the tools that allow the spies to overcome evil. The normal becomes part of something bigger – part of the ongoing fight between good and evil.
These TV shows are a form of escapism. In each show the characters only live through the interesting, exciting (and dangerous) parts of life. The Doctor and his companions never have to go grocery shopping or get stuck in rush hour traffic (except in that one episode) Michael Westen doesn’t ever need to go to the Dentist. Sydney flies all over the world but yet she never seems to wait at an airport or have to go through customs. These characters only live in those moments of extremities. They are always facing those tough decisions that us normal humans hope we never have to make. They make ten a day. Through these shows we are let into a world where the mundane doesn’t exist and the only parts of life are the good parts.
I am beginning an adventure – but it’s not an adventure like Michael Westin might have or the Doctor would go on. My adventure is actually going to be boring. I’ve spent 12 hours now on planes or in airports and most of it has been dozing or sitting around waiting. Surprisingly, no one has tried to hijack the plane or catch the super spy that is dressed as a businessman in first class. These stories tell us what we want to hear – we want to hear that Good vs. Evil is always happening and that it is a fight that we can be part of. We want to believe that our ordinary lives can become these larger than life adrenaline-filled episodes. They can’t. Our lives just go by day by day and are extraordinary simply because they are ordinary.
The moments that count in our lives are the simple moments. I had breakfast this morning at a little Diner in Austin, TX with my Aunt and Uncle. This was an extraordinary moment. It was just so simple and normal but it is something that I will not be repeating for a very long time. I watched the election returns with friends last night over beers. Another simple, yet extraordinary moment. It was a moment of love and affection and relief. Time spent with friends and family is the most important time.
Sometimes I go looking for something extraordinary to happen to me to prove that I could be the next Sydney Bristow but when I do that I often forget to look around me at the amazing and extraordinary people that already surround me. This trip I’m taking is going to be exotic and different but yet my life is still the same, simple, ordinary life I’ve always had. I’m looking forward to finding the extraordinary in the ordinary things I’m going to discover.
P.S. I did make it safely and I’m currently sitting in my hostel in Guayaquil, Ecuador 🙂
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