---------------------------------------- Northern Exposure January 04th, 2018 ---------------------------------------- Do you have any TV shows in your life that speak to you with a mystical connection? How about books, films? I don't mean that you love reading or watching, or that the story is amazing, but rather that the story meets you where you are in your life and gives something to you that you were missing. Maybe it highlights a situation you're feeling and a new way of looking at the world, or maybe it brings you around to focus on what's really important; but whatever the effect it is profound and personal. I really hope you do have one of those. It's something special. For me, it's the early 90's TV show Northern Exposure. When I'm stuck in my head and I need something to jar me loose, I'll put on a random episode. It's like a tarot reading or something. Without fail that episode is what I needed. "Up River" is my favorite episode of the series, where Joel heads to a remote native villiage called Manonash for a house call and decides to stay. It has had a profound impact on my life choices. It has been at the heart of my inspirations to let go of my current life and go in a new direction. It is part of the reason I dropped out of college the first time around and joined the Navy. It was there when I started discerning a call to the priesthood. It was there before I decided to propose to my wife. Likewise, "Fish Story", with its mystical experiences for Joel in the belly of the beast, or Ruth-Anne's biker gang escapades, comes to me when I need to remember that my expectations don't matter for shit in the face of what will come. But that's okay, and pretty often it's in letting go that we find growth. There's so much spirituality underlying the repeatedly undercut expectations of the characters that I find something new in each viewing. I could go on, but this phlog isn't really about me outlining why I adore each specific episode of this random show. I hope that in naming it and sharing it you might acknowledge something in your own life that can help you the same way. If so, let me know. If nothing comes to mind... well, you probably just need to watch Northern Exposure.