The Hook

Keeping up with new TV shows or staying interested in a particular series enough to watch it every week has never really been my thing. I'm more inclined to get into a random documentary on Netflix, like Happy - as a sidebar, definitely one I'd have to recommend, as a friend recommended it to me, and I loved it. If the nerd inside you appreciates quantum physics and the search for what happiness really is, you will also love it.

That said, there has been a time or two... or five... when I've had someone tell me I just have to see this show or that, so I check it out, and - lo and behold - after a lil bit I'm hooked. Of course, I usually find out about these shows about 2 or 3 seasons in on average, so I end up catching up to the current season via a marathon episode-watching event - complete with lots of wine, snacks, and pjs. It's exhilarating, trust me. :D

So, recently it happened again with a series called The Walking Dead, and by the first half of episode one, I was hopelessly hooked. This show had thrown out the bait, left me looking at it kind of sideways and squinty-eyed, made me nibble, slowly reeled me in, and then ~*¡WHAM!*~... hooked was I.  Rather than having me pondering a zombie apocalypse, however, I immediately appreciated how smart these producers were in the way that they grabbed my attention. They got it. And now they had me. That was Phase 1...

Phase 2: My brain promptly veered toward the contrast - that show that I did eventually get hooked into BUT JESUS, I think it took 6 full episodes. That one was True Blood. And while it did end up being one of my favorites (and 5 million viewers can't be wrong), I was really annoyed by the length of time it took to actually hook me. In fact, the only reason I watched beyond episode 4 of season 1 was because I was being told by a friend that it "gets better." It did. But, man, did I have to waaaiiittt for iiitttt. Ugh...

cute little puppy

Now let's walk this little puppy back around to the beginning, shall we?

Phase 3: The Connection

We watch everything from comedy to scifi to horror because something in us resonates with the realities - however far-fetched they may be - we find in those shows. For example, in Dexter, we struggle with feeling compassionate toward a serial killer, but we love that we can, don't we? Maybe it's because we love that there is a part of us that allows empathy where social boundaries say there should be none. Whatever the reason, there is something there that "hooks" us.

Isn't life sort of the same way? We seek the hook in fictional tales, but have you ever considered that in life, we're looking for the same hook... that thing that keeps us going... the excitement of "what's coming next?" It's much more difficult for some reason to get hooked into one's own life than a TV show. Maybe it's because the storyline of a TV drama is necessarily temporary - averaging about 6 seasons - whereas your life is much longer. It could be that it's hard to stay engaged day in and day out in your own life... that it's much easier to fantasize about the potential of other realities. Truthfully, though, the old adage is true: truth is stranger than fiction. And if you're breathing in and out, you're one of the lucky ones who still have the opportunity to see another sunrise - why not get after the "hook" in your own life? Find out what makes you tick... and do it. Carpe diem. Seize the day. YOLO... and all that jazz. That's happiness ~ getting hooked on your own life. ;)