As a girl who enjoys hyperbole and attention, I’ve claimed that many things have changed my life. “OMG yum. These new brownie bites are changing my life.” “Ooh, love this nail polish color. It’s sort of changing my life.” “Squee! A video of kittens on a Roomba! THIS IS TOTALLY CHANGING MY LIFE!”
Of course, none of these things really altered my existence (though the wittle bitty kitties did come close). So to show that I’m not all talk, I decided to compile a real list, a list of Things That (really truly) Changed My Life.
Pleasantville
I happened to watch this film when it came out in 1998. I think Something About Mary was sold out, so my friend and I just randomly picked something else. I had no idea what it was going to be about. I was a senior in high school and was going through some religious turmoil, wondering whether the world extended beyond my little church bubble. This movie really jolted me. It’s about forgetting what’s “right” and living with passion, living in color. I’ve had a different outlook ever since.
This Article
It’s an AP story on Terri Schiavo, the brain-damaged woman who became the centerpiece of a national right-to-die battle in 2005. So random, I know. But it changed my life. I came across it on the day she died and realized, Oh my God, she was a person. The writer included so many details about her childhood and personality and romance, details that no one else had really cared to report. I was working at a newspaper at the time and forwarded the story to my editor, telling him to check it out. He later wrote me a very nice note saying that he could see me writing this type of story and that I should never lose the desire to learn and grow. Now that I think about it, it was probably the note that changed my life. Either way, I was reminded why I chose to be a journalist — to tell the stories that would otherwise go untold.
That Night
You know what night I’m talking about. That night in college when you stay up way too late sitting on your bed with a boy and he asks you questions you’ve never asked yourself and you tell him things you’ve never told anyone before. And you never knew you could feel so special, so beautiful, so you.
I’ve had one of those nights. And it changed my life.
Flaming Hot Cheetos
This weekend, some friends and I went to Jitlada, which supposedly serves the spiciest Thai food around. I lovelovelove spicy, remember? One friend asked how I first got into spicy stuff, and I had to say Flaming Hot Cheetos. I ate a bag every day in high school. They opened a whole new world for me. My life — and tastebuds — were forever changed.
Keyless Entry Car Lock System
I was that girl who would scramble through her two-foot-deep purse for five frantic minutes every time she needed to open her car door. This is the best invention ever — and it changed my life.
What has changed your life?
I’m first, so I’ll go ahead and go with the obvious, which is marrying my wonderful husband. CHANGED EVERYTHING!
I also have to agree with you on the key-less entry thing. I am always walking up to my friends car doors now and expecting them to just open for me. I get pretty pissy when they don’t. : )
one halloween-party themed night when i met the guy that would change my life…3 months later when he first told me he loved me…
when my DAD deposited a check that i gave him…causing me to overdraft. i’ve been heavily monitoring my balances every since.
the death of my grandmother in June…it is still rattling for me.
Oh, I like your list. I’d say the entire past year has changed my. Now I can say that I’m glad.
Blogging, definitely.
beautiful michelle!
love this.
what’s changed my life? watching movies i was too young to see, blogging, going to college in ohio, popcorn. that’s just the beginning.
This is an amazing post. You’re totally inspiring my brain right now – I’m busy making my own list in my head and may end up making my own post inspired by this! Yesss.
I definitely had my own “Pleasantville” moment – having much to do with learning to live outside my own bubble. I think that most people who grow up in the church (I’m assuming, from what you wrote, that you did?) go through something like that – where you realize that everything isn’t exactly the way you thought it was. And that you need to find your own place, too…if that makes any sense.
And as for “That Night”? Yeah. Totally. Amazing x 1000 and I kind of wish I could relive it, actually.
Oh, and I agree with Katelin: popcorn changed my life. Heehee…
My “Pleasantville” moment was a summer I spent abroad in college. I had never traveled without my family, and although I went away to college, we were still very connected. It was the first time I felt like I had left my comfort zone.
I also googled “Kittens on Roomba.” That may change my life too!
When I was in middle school (which looks amusingly like Pleasantville High), I was working on a metal shop project. I had a crooked weld, and I knew it looked crappy. I showed it to the teacher and asked whether it was “good enough.”
He said it wasn’t his decision whether it was good enough. “Is it good enough for you?” he asked.
I went back and rewelded the piece. And learned a lifelong lesson.
meeting you…*tear