1970's NOT "GOOD TIMES"

You know what is weird, for the past couple of months I have been faithfully watching the 1970's sitcom, "Good Times." I remember watching that show when it came out in the 70's while I was still in high school. I really like this show!

It is becoming so evident now how detached and isolated I was.

The 1970's were not good to me. I was hurting emotionally something terribly. All by myself.

Back then, besides going off in la-la land to escape the pain of my parents divorce, my mother's remarriage, moving away from my father, my home and friends I also escaped into television. So much so, that I would play out in my mind and IRL the characters that appealed to me. My young mind and damaged heart could only grasp just what I saw on the outside. Not what was going on in the inside of a tv character yet let alone myself. I was imitating what I would call "a shell character." No depth.

While watching the TV show, "Good Times" and other sitcoms during the 1970's, I would give the appearance that I was comprehending what was going on, only to find out decades later, I zoned out. Seeing only the "shell of a individual." A sort of white noise phenomena I was experiencing.

If you were to ask me back then what the episode of the night was about, I could not tell you. This too was so evident in my school work at the time. I could not concentrate.

But today, it is like a whole new era. My awareness is so bright and clear now. I see depth into the same characters that came over as "shell individuals" so long ago. Watching these old reruns are all new to me. Like it is the first time I am ever seeing them.

I totally understand what is going on with each character and how "each person" had a life. Had an opinion. Had a purpose. The family was a unit even in the most difficult times. Something I did not have. The support was phenomenal. Interaction among the parents and the siblings were real. No shell existence this time. I am finally understanding the storyline and what it is like to be real. No zoning out here.

Same as it plays out IRL now. I see depth in people. I see and feel their pain. I feel the realness now. Good and bad.