life changes and twisters in theaters
I'm coming up on a big life change. In four days, I'll be moving five hours away. Not a huge change for some, but for me (a person who has lived in the same place since 2012) it'll be something entirely new!
I'm excited about the change, but finishing up at my job last week and starting on packing all my garbage has me attempting to revel in the series of "lasts" I'll experience before my departure.
One of the lasts I was most anticipating was my last bike ride in my local park. Since 2019, I've biked to my local park nearly every weekend. It's one of those things that just never got old. I always found something new to appreciate about it, and thought about trying a new route (maybe something outside the park for once) but never did.
My last ride was much anticipated mostly because I was curious as to my emotional reaction. The week prior, I was certain that leaving my job would render me emotionless and poetic, but I spent my forty minute commute home an emotional wreck (tears, snot, everything). I never could have guessed that I'd react that way. I've never reacted that way to anything ending in my life.
So, naturally, I was wondering whether or not I'd react similarly to the bike ride. To make a long story short, I didn't. I was interrupted as soon as I entered the park by a phone call from my doctor, and spent the rest of the ride with my mind somewhere else. Safe to say, it wasn't the coming of age moment I was hoping for.
A new last came about unexpectedly this morning when my girlfriend suggested we see Twisters in theaters in the afternoon. Personally, I had no intention of seeing the film at all, much less in theaters, but was excited at the prospect of seeing a bad movie in an empty room (a.k.a the perfect out-loud commentary setting).
I knew it'd be empty because the chain theater we were going to had shut down after COVID and reopened under new mom-and-pop management, a fact which nobody around me seemed to know given the unchanged signage and lack of local social media presence. I has been a loyal customer to the theater since 2012, and was sad to see it go from COVID, especially since the last movie I watched there was unremarkable at best (I don't even remember what movie it was, only that I saw it in February of 2020). This is all to say, it was strange walking back into the theater with a fresh coat of interior paint and boasting a few apathetic teenagers working the counter, knowing this was the last time I'd do so. I was a little depressed about the whole thing. It only signaled to me that the movies are dying! That was, until I watched Twisters.
The theater was empty, as predicted, which only worked to make our experience better. We screamed and laughed and commentated through the whole thing. It was fucking awesome. I went in expecting a bad movie, and ended up having an amazing time! We even walked out of the place hollering about Glen Powell's muscles and other facts about the movie we found objectively ridiculous. I was practically buzzing, and the fact of this being my last visit to the theater wasn't on my mind.
So, the theater is different now. My job is different now. My life is different now. I thought anticipating these lasts would make them count more, or mean more, or make me a better writer, but it was the silly movie in the empty theater that reminded me why that's a stupid idea. We work ourselves up about the last time we'll do something so much that we forget to enjoy it.
Forget about your plan. Forget about your expectations. Then, you might experience something incredible, magical, awesome, and new.
My life is changing, and I am ready for it.