Ugly Betty Sucks Now But It Made Me Think
I don’t think there are going to be spoilers in this post, but if you’re still an Ugly Betty fan (why…why have you not moved on yet? I still watch it but, yeah, it’s so over…) you may not want to read this till you’ve seen the episode where…uh…stuff happens. Whatever, you’ve been warned – albeit in a totally vague, unhelpful way!
So I was watching Ugly Betty tonight and she had this long-ass soliloquy (total Shakespeare style) about how she had this fantasy and she moved into an apartment in the city because of this fantasy and she kissed the dude that played in the band because of the fantasy.
I moved to New York when I was…um…18? I think I was 18. I moved there because it was a chance to move to New York. Sure it was upstate New York (hours and hours from the city) and I was renting a room in someone’s house (totally not glamorous) but I moved there because I had a dream.
How often do we start things (personal things, business things, career things) because of the fantasy we have of what will come with the thing we’ve chosen to do?
The Secret people tell us that focused intent and visualization will bring us some pretty cool stuff – but haven’t we all been visualizing all along? From little girls picturing a wedding day of bliss and perfection (some of those dreams ultimately turn into My Big Redneck Wedding) to dreaming of wearing a suit and being in meetings (that you found yourself trying to stay awake during) I have learned something important.
The fantasy is a big sham.
- Wearing that suit? It means wearing heels (ouch) and pantyhose (eek!)
- If you saw what I slept with once I got to New York you would have thought my fantasy was to be in a horror movie.
- Working from home is not glamorous and much more difficult than I ever imagined. I mean, it’s work. I was hoping to sit on my ass at home and collect a paycheck. (Don’t even try and tell me you knew how much work it was going to be when you started if you work from home. Unless you’re @CandieB – who is the SuperWoman of accounting businesses.)
- I dreamed of wearing an apron and baking cookies with my kids. I did not get the memo they would sneak out of the kitchen with the frosting and eat it all … with chopsticks.
But! (Come on, I try not to leave you without a silver lining. Have a little faith.) Those are all funny, interesting, exciting, fun memories that make for great stories.
So, really, if I’m being totally honest I have to say that yes, I’d like to be living in a mansion and sipping boat drinks on a boat in Martha’s Vinyard and have it all paid for by my late husband and flirt with cabana boys all day.
But really, the path I took got me to someplace I’m really enjoying. I love my family, I’m a pretty kick-ass mother, and I have a husband most woman would kill me for if they realized how awesome he really is.
Thank goodness the fantasy is a big sham, or I might not have a life I really treasure.
But…Ugly Betty still sucks. If you’re waiting on that happy ending give up now. It jumped the shark.
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Yep – I’m a Joiner!
A lot of energy is spent on visualizing a fantasy that could be spent on doing some stay alert/watchful work and movin’ on up.
Every living thing has those grass is greener genetics…weeds, chickens, us. This is probably why we have a couple great, but strictly volunteer stray-to-resident cats. They used to live somewhere else and not to badly from appearances.
I moved to Miami on a fantasy. Notice that I’m back in Chicago, it’s February, and I’m not complaining.