(Gilmore Girls fan site)
Still watching Gilmore Girls
and still loving it

Remember this in the Gilmore Girls episode “Rory’s Dance”? Lorelai had hurt her back, and there was only one position on the couch in which she could get any relief, lying upside-down, with her head hanging over the edge and her feet propped up on the back of the couch.

That’s how it’s been for me this week, except that instead of back pain, I’ve had migraines. I hope that explains why I haven’t posted regularly. It always starts with a poor night’s sleep and always ends with me sprawled in a strange position on the couch, pressing my head up against the armrest, because that the only way I can get the pounding in my head to stop hurting.

“Rory’s Dance” is also the Rory : Dean :: girlfriend : boyfriend episode.

Ah. I remember my first real girlfriend. (That’s a different story.)

I particularly like this line Lorelai says: “I just don’t want you to miss out on any experience because you’re too afraid.”

Sometimes we avoid experiences that could enrich our lives, because we’re afraid of them. But sometimes, as for Rory, when you step out on that limb, things work out beautifully and romantically, and you end up with a wonderful memory.

And sometimes, as for Rory, they don’t.

You might leave your miserable job in order to take your career (or your life) in a new direction. And you might become rich and famous, or you might end up broke and homeless. Or maybe you start up a conversation with that cute guy in the elevator at work. You might find out he’s your soulmate. Or you might find out that he’s already married.

Rory’s story reminds me of this one time I stayed out all night and probably freaked my parents. They handled it better than Lorelai, but then again, they didn’t have any of Lorelai’s baggage. I was 17 or 18 at the time. We were all at a church convention together. (Yes, and with lots of gossipy church-ladies there no doubt.) And after the day’s events, I went out for coffee with a few friends. And after we had coffee, one of the girls and I—not a girlfriend, just a girl friend—we got to talking in one of the lobbies in the hotel. We sat in the comfy chairs there and chatted and chatted and chatted. Before we knew it, the moon had gone to bed and the sun was waking up.

My parents simply listened to my explanation, and then with looks of consternation, made some forgettable comment about the incident, and then never mentioned it again. I never stayed out all night again.

But I still look back on that night as enjoyable, an experience I’m glad to have had. Every experience can make us better people. The worst job I ever had was also the most educational, because it challenged me the most. I will never go back to work for a company like that again (if I can avoid it), but I’ll still always take with me the life-lessons I learned there.

I wonder if Rory will ever look back on her experiences with Dean and ponder what she ultimately will have learned from them.

-TimK