Good Evening TXK
Once upon a time, I was a carefree little boy, running around my backyard and making explosion noises with my mouth, pretending I was the star in an action movie—much like millions of other kids often do. I spent three-fourths of my childhood laying on the floor, intently staring at whatever movie my mom had popped into the VHS player for me.
Somewhere along my way, the lines began blurring between film and reality, and I started wondering why my life wasn’t playing out quite like those movies I obsessively watched.
In the movies, a peppy, upbeat soundtrack accompanies the buzzing of an alarm going off early in the morning, followed by the main character springing out of bed with a gigantic plastered on smile. We are impressed with the image of full hair and makeup done, even though they have supposedly just rolled around all night attempting to get in their full eight hours. In real life, if you wake up early enough for work, it’s dark in your room, maybe you’re cold, and you open your eyes to realize you have another day of work ahead of you. You’re groggy, have eye gunk galore, and want to roll over and go back to sleep.
In the movies, friends say they’re friends, and they genuinely mean it. The good guys always win, evil is always vanquished, the boy likes the girl back, and every problem in the entire universe is solved with an unforeseen epiphany the main character has in the final act of the film.
However, all the major life epiphanies of my 25 years on this earth—realizing I don’t have to let the opinions of other people affect me so drastically, understanding alcohol only offers counterfeit courage, acknowledging a friend isn’t necessarily a “bad” friend just because they hurt me, forgiving my dad for abandoning me, and comprehending I am not what people have labeled me—haven’t resulted in all my problems being solved.
In my head, I believed I was supposed to figure everything out in my 20s and then lead a fun, peaceful life, unbothered by fear, doubt, or negativity. In real life, there is no major epiphany that shifts everything into perspective once and for all. Even after we grow and evolve, our favorite people in the world still disappoint us. Our crushes rarely reciprocate our feelings, and we are not discovered as the next huge breakout star while sitting at home on our couch. Real life is messy and inconsistent.
As if I needed confirmation from anyone else that I was naïve, my friend directly told me one night while sitting in his car, “Bailey, your life is not a movie. You’re not living in a movie.” It stung at first, but as usual, he was so right.
I want to believe that life is about accepting the imperfections of the world on this side of eternity and finding moments of unbridled beauty and joy in front of us every day. I want to celebrate simply because of those genuine moments—yes, every single day.
In life, we often equate the new year with a second chance. We look at it as an opportunity to start anew, to try again, to change ourselves. In movies, a new year is almost never necessary for genuine change. Characters grow and strengthen without a New Year’s resolution; no one waits around for their second chance to begin at midnight. They have nerve; they just go for it.
Life may not be like a movie, but I believe sometimes we can take some notes from what we see IN movies. That’s why we watch movies after all, isn’t it? Yes, to be entertained, but also because we see ourselves in the stories on screen. We can relate. We love to see happy endings and we are determined to have our own.
The turning of a new year doesn’t have to be the only catalyst for change. We change by taking action and DOING, by just making the leap and seeing what happens. I don’t need a new year for that, and neither do you. There are beautiful moments all around you, and YOU are the main character of your life.
LOCAL EVENTS
January 5
Luke’s Free Friday—all classes are free
Thrive Yoga & Wellness
January 12
Downtown Live
The Gallery at 1894
6-9 pm
January 26
Texarkana Homeless Coalition Chili Cookoff
Downtown Texarkana
5-7:30 pm
January 29
Giraffes Don’t Dance in Theatre
Perot Theatre
LIVE MUSIC
January 5
Lee Mathis & the Brutally Handsome
Hopkins Icehouse
January 12
Heather and Jase
Redbone Magic Brewing Company
7 pm
January 19
The Temptations
Perot Theatre
8 pm
January 20
Vernon Hinesley
Fat Jacks Oyster & Sports Bar
9 pm
January 20
Dusty Rose Band
Redbone Magic Brewing Company
7 pm
