How Do You Ever Truly Come Away From a Story Whose Heartbeat Finds Its Way To Yours?

Or, to put it bluntly, here are some musings about stories and why I love them.

Photo by Our Life in Pixels on Unsplash

I’m mourning for something that hasn’t even left me yet.

Before you feel bad for me, it’s not exactly a tragedy. No, it’s actually something quite mundane.

One of my favorite shows of the moment is coming to an end. One more episode, and that’s it — done, nada, no more. The characters and story will become only memories until I choose to do a rewatch and invest myself again and again.

This is not new for me.

Even so, I don’t think everyone in the world can actually relate to this kind of sorrow, silly though it may seem. Most people I know will ingest media — whether that be a TV show, movie, or a book (most rare of all) — and then essentially just toss it away from their minds when they are done.

I’ve never actually been able to do that myself.

Ten years ago, I fell in love with one show that left me sobbing after the credits rolled on the final episode. Snot and tears dribbled down my face as I sought refuge in the bathroom and tried to tell myself that it was okay. It was just a show. But it meant something to me in…