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Season 7, Episode 19: If My Life Were a TV Show
Why the same old cast never made it past a single season. Realities of moving and starting again.
Not to be very specific, but this essay is for anyone who’s had to start over, especially in their late 20s, especially abroad, especially without a support system.
Non-member link.
Watching quite a lot of shows in the background of my everyday activities, I once spent a few interesting hours trying to figure out what it would look like if my life were turned into a show.
What would the set look like? Who are the main characters?
Who would play me — Maggie Smith or Sydney Sweeney? I vote both, depending on the season.
I knew for sure that a season started every time I had to start from scratch — and I’ve done that a couple of times.
As I kept recalling moments where I thought seasons should end, a slow realization dawned on me: starting over was never about moving around or social timeframes, like finishing a master’s or starting a new job. It was about losing all my people — threads connecting me to certain places, states of mind, habits.
First, covering the school years was easy — following best practices, the seasons would end once summer holidays…