My Happy Ending

People always ask me why I like romantic comedies so much. Its because even under extraordinary circumstances, the right two people can end up together. – Mindy Kaling

I know it’s cliche. I know it is. But I really love romantic comedies. I like the cheesiness that usually comes with them, the campy flavor, the impossible win at the end for our favorite hero or heroine, and of course, the meet cute.

There are weekends when I’ll just decide instead of going out, I’m going to lay on my sofa and just partake in the wonderment of these stories. I laugh with them, I cry with them, heck – I even try to will the main characters into not making that big mistake I know will make their journey to happiness longer (but of course it wouldn’t be a movie without it).

Let’s think about some of the more famous ones that have come out: in those, you’ve had people end up together despite living in a different country, despite a love-hate relationship at work, despite the fact that the woman was engaged to someone else (who of course, she didn’t truly love), despite onset Alzheimer’s, despite an initial betrayal, despite the fact that they didn’t like each other when they first met, and despite the fact that they thought they were just friends. Talk about extraordinary circumstances, right?!

But the beautiful thing about romantic comedies is that while they let those circumstances play out (kind of how they do in our own lives), you still know that THOSE two people are going to be together before the credits roll. You get to smile at the end and bask in things working out for someone (even if it’s a fictional someone) and also imagine your own happy ending.

I guess what I’m saying is that I finally realized one of the biggest reasons I love romantic comedies is because they give me hope. They remind me to keep believing in happy endings, that despite how things look and despite whatever “extraordinary” circumstances I may encounter, whoever I’m supposed to end up with will still be there.

Perfect love, wrong timing, right reason, wrong ways, if you give everything for someone you love, it's always a happy ending and I think I just found my soulmate. ---MHBTR

The Waiting Room: Telling of Something Beautiful

Wait. But don't wait too long. Work hard. But don't forget how to play. Sing loudly. But don't learn all the words. Wonder. But not so much that you lose yourself. Read magazines. But read more books.

Love.

On this day, you read something that moved you and made you realise there were no more fears to fear. No tears to cry. No head to hang in shame. That every time you thought you’d offended someone, it was all just in your head and really, they love you with all their heart and nothing will ever change that. That everyone and everything lives on inside you. That, that doesn’t make any of it any less real. 

That soft touches will change you and stay with you longer than hard ones. 

That being alone means you’re free. That old lovers miss you and new lovers want you and the one you’re with is the one you’re meant to be with. That the tingles running down your arms are angel feathers and they whisper in your ear, constantly, if you choose to hear them. That everything you want to happen, will happen, if you decide you want it enough. That every time you think a sad thought, you can think a happy one instead. 

That you control that completely. 

That the people who make you laugh are more beautiful than beautiful people. That you laugh more than you cry. That crying is good for you. That the people you hate wish you would stop and you do too.

That your friends are reflections of the best parts of you. That you are more than the sum total of the things you know and how you react to them. That dancing is sometimes more important than listening to the music. 

That the most embarrassing, awkward moments of your life are only remembered by you and no one else. That no one judges you when you walk into a room and all they really want to know, is if you’re judging them. That what you make and what you do with your time is more important than you’ll ever fathom and should be treated as such. That the difference between a job and art is passion. That neither defines who you are. That talking to strangers is how you make friends. 

That bad days end but a smile can go around the world. That life contradicts itself, constantly. That that’s why it’s worth living. 

That the difference between pain and love is time. That love is only as real as you want it to be. That if you feel good, you look good but it doesn’t always work the other way around. 

That the sun will rise each day and it’s up to you each day if you match it. That nothing matters up until this point. That what you decide now, in this moment, will change the future. Forever. That rain is beautiful.

And so are you.

-Russ