Saying goodbye.
Two weeks ago How I Met Your Mother’s season nine came to a close. Not only the season, but the whole series ended its run. Let me reminisce and start this blog with some thoughts on saying goodbye. I watched my fictional group of friends grow and followed them on their search for the ultimate formula for growing up: Getting a degree, finding a (life)partner, starting a family, living the adult life. Nine years later I am almost thirty years old myself. I went to university, aborted my first line of studies, switched my fields of study, got a B.A. and M.A. at two different universities, went to live abroad and study in London (twice), have been in a steady relationship for most of my adult life, but have also continually been on the quest of finding out where to fit in work-wise (parallels to HIMYM’s Marshall and Lily as well as Robin and/or Ted are obligatory) and life-wise.
Life is messy
Not to sound like every other person growing up, but it’s not always been easy. Friendships come into life and wither again, financial (let’s call it) instability takes its toll, evaluations of oneself’s lifestyle lead to the urge of radically changing ones life. The same can be said about my fictional friends (WARNING: Spoilers ahead): We witnessed Marshall crumble under the pressure of selling out or adhering to his ideals (big shot lawyer vs. environmental idealist), and nearly break under the strain of the grief of losing his father. Ted famously got left at the altar and never ever, until this last season, shied away from the grand gestures of an idealized state of love, until he could not take it anymore. Lily was torn apart between going after her teenage dreams of being an artist and living in Europe, living the bohemian lifestyle. Robin had to deal with the fact of not being able to have biological children ever, and to (temporarily) give up on the one love, that feels like the one due to diverging views of a future life together. And Barney had to deal with his great (suppressed) fear of being with one woman, maybe owing to the fact that not even his idealized father, whom he later on meets and who has definitely made this step, could be with one woman, by being a deceptive and compulsive liar. This is the nutshell. Problems, when they’re broken down into their deep-rooted components, that the viewers, like me, can partially relate to.
Farewell
Two weeks ago my ‘class of 2014′ celebrated its graduation. Looking at the photographs now already makes me nostalgic. This is over. It’s time to begin a new part of life. To reassess my strengths and weaknesses, make mistakes again and again, find happiness in the smallest of things, like knowing what your partner might love for breakfast this morning or being able to call your friend to spontaneously crash on their couch for the night, without any hesitation from their side at all. I don’t know what the future holds. All I know is it might not be easy. There may and will come obstacles I’ll have to overcome. Hurdles that need to be taken. Absentee parents, when/how and if to start a family, life decisions that may be good for myself, but not so easy for those in my life may need to be taken and/or have already been taken by me. These questions amidst the comedy were addressed in HIMYM. And it’s something I will miss this show for. It turned out to be my steady companion. The cast made mistakes, had a whole lot of good times, struggled, got up again. And, as “gently hinted at” in the finale, will continue to do so. So, thank you for that.