More of what I learned from television.

I've learned a lot from television. I've learned that everyone is crazy; those characters on Friends acted *very strangely* and yet were still very likeable and comprised one of the most popular situation comedies of all times. One night I was riding my bike home after a few drinks, and I found a baby shoe in a crosswalk. My judgement was impared, and I picked up that little shoe and put it in my pocket. The next night I caught up on 30 Rock and Liz Lemon accidentally revealed a purse full of "stolen" baby shoes. I've learned that the comedic pause only works if people are expecting it, like on How I Met Your Mother, I often must instruct people to "wait for it."

Television helps us to live our lives with more humor and tolerance. I read a study that real people who had never met a gay person but watched Will and Grace had more tolerant views than those who did not. Television has the power to heal our insecurities and teach us about humanity. It provides "focus group"-level studies from which we can learn about society. We must remember that those characters are not real, but their stories have reality.

That said, I learned 2 interesting things recently. My boss lent me his DVD set of Season 1 of Bones. I watch it nearly every night. The main character has shared 2 kernals of wisdom that stuck with me:
1) Zen addage: in order to find something, you have to stop looking.
The problem? I really enjoy looking. Pretty much it can give my life meaning. When I find one thing I sought, I often have to start looking for something else as quickly as possible or I'll let go of the thing I found. This may be related to our hunter/gather history.
2) Nothing has ever happened only once in the history of time. So, like Angela, chances are I will fall in love again.