I'm not OK · 10:36pm Oct 13th, 2019
I'm not OK.
But this is also not a cry for help or comfort.
Dang it, I want to feel heartbroken! When good things come to an end, I think it's right to mourn their passing.
And I am. And I do.
If you know me at all, you are probably aware that I'm a big fan of the children's television show "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic." Well, after an astounding and unexpectedly successful 9 seasons, the show just aired its final episodes last night.
For the past few days, and especially the last 24 hours, I've been watching my social media feeds exploding with friends and fandom favorites telling stories about how much the show means to them, and how it changed and in some instances saved their lives. The overall message is one of gratitude toward the show's many talented creators and fans, and bittersweet optimism: Sadness that the show is officially over and the canonical stories of the characters are at an end, yet optimism that the fan community around this show will live on and perhaps even thrive in years to come (especially if this successful show is able to spawn successful spin-off series, which seems likely).
But right now... it's over. And by that I mean we won't see the same group of talented artists, animators, writers, editors, voice actors, composers, singers, musicians, directors or producers ever creating new adventures for Twilight Sparkle and her friends to go on; stories which have become the locus around which this entire community of fans has come together, over which they swoon, speculate and argue, and from which many of us have drawn lessons to refine our moral compasses, discover empathy and kindness, and in general become better humans. Friendship is Magic was never only just a show for kids. And yes, the things we learned and friendships we've made will endure. In a way, a good story is immortal...
Yet in another way... it really is over. And I feel sad.
I know this probably seems somewhat embarrassing and pathetic that I should mourn the ending of a children's TV show to some of you. And you're right: In today's world, where so much seems irredeemably wrong, where the lunatics are running the asylum and are likely to cause suffering for generations to come (if any of us even survive that long), where a cursory glance at the news screams about each day bringing new and ever worse horrors... THIS? This is what I'm sad about?
Well, yes. Part of the reason I have loved this show so much was because it was a place I could count on the good guys always winning in the end, and that no matter how bad things seemed, nothing truly terrible would prevail in the long run. Where most villians were simply hurt people that needed empathy and help, and that even if they passed up opportunities for reform, were at least never dehumanized or treated cruelly. And where the moral lessons weren't dumbed down, but refined to their essence and made clear... In a world that seems to have trouble deciding that Nazis are bad and that you shouldn't be one, Friendship is Magic is a refreshing breath of fresh air.
But it's also more than that: I've also had my life changed by this show. I discovered it at a time in my life where I was extremely burned out from being a non-stop work-a-holic as a coping mechanism for a divorce I had been trying to recover from for 5 years. I found renewed meaning in the messages of the show and wanted to do all I could to encourage others who also found meaning in it to come together and thrive.
And then doors began to open for me in ways I never could have predicted: I reconnected with friends I hadn't had contact with in over a decade who had independently discovered the show. I got to meet people like Teri Shikasho, Lauren Faust, M.A. Larsen, Michelle and Monique Creber and John de Lancie. And through John, I ended up meeting Michael Weisberg and going to the Galapagos with him and his crew, where I then met Ernesto and Fausto. And through this I discovered I loved to travel to new places and meet new people... which then led to friendships with Matt Harding, Matthew Inman, Michelle Lynn, ... and on and on.
Heck, even my love of sailing and all the friends I've made through it stems from meeting John de Lancie. I heard his stories about his sailing adventures, and decided to give it a try myself. Since then I've sailed over a thousand miles, made dozens of new friends, and I'm now seriously contemplating a second career that involves sailing...
Perhaps most meaningfully, I got to meet several people in need and act the part of a savior of sorts. There are people alive today because I was able to do something to save them.
And this--all of this--never would have happened, were it not for this little show full of pastel-colored ponies with silly names an big hearts.
I have a debt of gratitude toward the show and its creators that I can only barely begin to express, and of which they will never even know the full extent.
So please forgive me if you think it's pathetic to be mourning the passing of a cartoon. I hope at least with this explanation, maybe you understand a little better why I am, and why I don't think it's pathetic.
I'll be OK tomorrow. Or maybe next week. But right now, I'm sad. And I guess that's OK.
It's touched a lot of people.
I mean, I feel differently about the show's end than many, because for me it wasn't a new thing, it was a return. My obsession with My Little Pony began in 1984. Friendship is Magic has been something special in many ways, yes, but that's what I'm hanging on to right now. It was a return of something I'd always loved, and there will be many more such returns in the years going forward, whether in Pony itself, or in other communities and creations we can connect to and through.
(Sorry for hijacking your blog to talk about my own feels, I don't feel like I want to join the crowd making retrospective blogs, because that one paragraph is all I have to say about it, really.)
Hugs, Foxley. It'll get better. As you yourself note.
And no, it's not pathetic. This is what grief is—restructuring your life after a major important part of it gets pulled away. It is absolutely natural to feel what you're feeling, and I feel kind of the same.
Blimey, I haven't heard from you for a while. I thought you'd disappeared long ago. Nice to see you back!
It changed all our lives here, and for the better. Like you, the show brought out a better side of my own self, and made me see the world is a slightly brighter light. That led to me reaching out to more people, and helping more people, and I genuinely believe I've done a lot of good in the world since the magic talking horses came into my life. I will be eternally grateful for that!