Life Lessons From This Is Us

Hey, sweet friends! How are you? Prepare yourself for some rambling. If you follow me on Instagram then you are familiar with my rambles 😉 I’m feeling all weird and feely today. This is a common theme over here, ya know? It’s ok, apparently, I am an empath or an ‘HSP’ (highly sensitive person). Sometimes this is exhausting. Especially when you combine it with PMS.

Recently I saw a psychic medium. I’ve seen her 3 times now and wow, it’s been an amazing experience. Kind of like therapy but with spirit guides instead of a therapist. You’ve got to have a bit of an open mind to this kind of thing and well, I do. Have you ever seen one? I’d love to hear about your experience!

So aside from my cool psychic experience, I had some thoughts on a recent episode of This is Us. It correlates to my thoughts + views on parenting as of late. I loved this particular episode because it really showed two sides of parenting and let’s be real, there are always two sides. Sometimes we are standing firm on our own side BUT I think we should be mindful and open to the other side.

The thing is, each of us as parents want to cheer on our kids’ victories. We want to see the good in them even if there are messy parts. It’s what we do. We support the good and we love unconditionally. Our hope is that others will see the upside to our kids as well, even if there are messy parts.

Here’s the scoop

If you don’t watch This is Us, let me tell you a bit about it. The show bounces between various members of the Pierce family. The storylines are usually a bit emotional but the characters are definitely loveable. Two of my favorite characters are Beth and Randall who have 3 daughters, one of whom is adopted. Deja (who is adopted) is around fourteen and has a crush on a boy who is sixteen. Here’s the caveat, the boy is a dad and with the help of his parents is raising his daughter. The baby’s mom is not around. Of course, Beth and Randall do not want their daughter involved with this boy because hello, he has a baby. On the flip side, the boy is a good kid pulling good grades but he had sex and got a girl pregnant. He is also a good dad, albeit a very young one. His parents, of course, are fighting for him to have a normal life and want to make it clear that he has morals and values.

My heart feels for these parents. They love their boy, they want him to have a semi-normal teenage life but they know he has a huge thing against him in the eyes of other parents. Here’s the thing, they can’t change the situation. It is a part of their life and guess what? They love this little girl and they love their son. I am sure this was not the way they thought things would go when they had their baby boy 16 years ago but it happened and they are doing the best they can with what life dealt them.

On the flip-side, I feel for Beth and Randall. Their daughter is young. She is too young to be having sex and now she is involved with a boy who obviously has more experience than her. They want to protect her heart. It all makes sense. She also likes this boy and they can’t change that.

Why is this important to me?

The parents, knowing that they are both trying to have their kids’ best interest at heart decide that they have to come together. They decide to put aside their differences and their opinions and let the kids see each other under very supervised conditions. I was literally applauding out loud because I think that there are two sides and that we should do our best to marry the two if you know that you can’t change it.

My son had a girlfriend, her mom wasn’t a fan of them being together and at one point, this caused them to sneak around to see each other. Obviously, this plan backfired. Now, truth be told, I wasn’t a huge fan of this relationship because it just felt messy BUT I did care about their hearts and knew they’d find a way to see each other.

So how could this have been handled? Better communication for sure. I think that’s why I appreciated this episode so much. It showed how we can disagree but still come together to find a solution that will work best for all parties involved.

Life Lessons from TV

Is it weird that I find lessons in everyday TV? Well, I’m here to tell you that there are lessons to be found everywhere. I find them on TV, in movies, in podcasts, on the radio and even in the most random of conversations. Aha moments or ‘nuggets’ can be found anywhere. We just have to listen and look for them.

I also had to share this new show that seriously rocked me. Modern Love is a recent addition to the world of Amazon Prime. It’s 8 shows based on modern essays shared in the New York Times column with the same name. This particular episode {aff link} starring Anne Hatheway is about her character’s struggles with being bipolar. You guys, I can not praise enough the awareness this episode brought to mental illness. When she says that sharing her story made her feel like an elephant had taken one foot off of her chest, I totally cried. I hope this made so many people feel like they could talk about their struggles. If it made just one person feel less alone, then it’s a success.

Bringing Awareness to Personal Struggles

As I sit here creating this post, I am thinking about how hard life can be. It is full of ups — and downs. Sometimes the holiday season can bring about a sense of loneliness for many. Maybe the expectations are too much, maybe we are missing loved ones from afar, maybe we’ve experienced a loss, maybe our kids aren’t home for various reasons. Sometimes it all just feels like so much. If you are in this space, I see you. Find joy in something, anything. It doesn’t have to be in the typical joys found in this season like Christmas music or sparkly lights. Maybe your joy exists in things that are more every day. A hot cup of coffee and a special book, a walk in the fresh air, a favorite yoga class, lunch with a friend. Find your joy. Let it light you up!