Late Night Thoughts With Lu: Here’s Where I Looked

Midyear doldrums and the tedium and the sameness coupled with drab and dark days makes it feel like a lengthy stretch of grind and a stiff and uncomfortable load. Assignments and projects and tests and the never ending this and that makes us long for those uninterrupted and undemanding moments. And soon we’re caught only looking forward to the next break, mired in looking beyond today and missing the now. In the show, The Good Place, the characters embark on a seemingly endless quest for the titular site. At one point, they think they are there, only to discover they are somewhere else, missing clues to their location, and to who they truly were.

I went looking for clues too, and here’s what I found.

I found Matt and Mattias looking curiously and admiringly at my tie’s double Windsor knot. They want to know how to tie it. After some show and tell, soon they’re practicing the knot themselves, and next day, Matt comes in with a clever smile and says, “See anything different?” It was the double Windsor. And it was beautiful.

I found Ben C. expressing his internal and eternal yah! when he answers a trivia question right, closes his eyes and lifts both arms in the air in triumph. It’s the same Ben who volunteers by teaching kids with special needs how to ski. The same Ben who knows Taylor Swift’s catalogue. The same Ben who may not pay the most attention during class, but has the ever so important compass pointing true north.

I found Lucy, full of verve and vitality, spewing out Lucyisms. “A word that start with k is koyote.” “A city in Finland is Switzerland.” “A U.S. state is New Amsterdam.”  Unpredictable and surprising, but unflappable and joyful. Her contagious energy derails us all the time, but that same energy lights up and lightens the room. That energy gives us a reason to pause, and a reason to go on.

I found Reuben and Terry trying to one up each other, trying to do their best frenemies impressions, but each giving me something new and different. Terry showing me pictures of him cutting Nate’s hair. Reuben giving me insight to the band The Powder Blues while we’re listening to Doin’ It Right. They are plenty more than what they show.

I found Mr. Maloney doing cool magic tricks which you can view online. But even more meaningful to me, we’re swapping book recommendations and talking about authors and books and why they do and don’t give us meaning. And Mr. Johnson comes by at another time, and suddenly we’re doing the same, and how crazy is it in this digital world, that we can connect with people who like to talk about reading and writing.

I found Theo speaking heartfelt and plainly about the grade 10s in our class. Sure, he spoke about the jokes, about the grade 12s’ relationship to them, about the silly stuff that happened, but the way he talked, it was more than that and I understood. There was this fond connection, this cool vibe, this come togetherness between grades that made it feel all right. Even though it was the middle of the year, it oddly felt like we were reminiscing, like we knew were living the good old days.  

Oh, I found lots. The entire episode of Marklin’s car getting egged. Elliott coming in the mornings like clockwork. Mr. Peltier stealthily putting up paper copies of the schedule every day. Sophie pouring in 60 points in a basketball game. Alex running the entire tour program like a boss. Alumnus Calvin visiting the global studies group and regaling them with tales about what a tiny university is like. Eva video calling her brother Ian on her phone so he could talk with me. Isabella’s secret handshake. The gigantic I heart Bohnen card. There’s lots of clues abound. I guess you just have to look for a bit.

In the end, the characters do find The Good Place, but they quickly discover it’s not a perfect place. No place is, really. Every place has flaws, just like the people who occupy those spaces.  The grass over there isn’t greener, it’s just different grass.

When those days come, when the hard and dull times hit, when the stress and the monotony are tough to shoulder and carry, it’s nice to reflect on where we are and to identify the clues to what our places are like, to where we belong, and to where we want to be.  

I think I found my good place. I found my right place. It’s here. And it’s with you.

I can’t imagine being anywhere else.