One thing that my boyfriend and I have in common is our love of the water. I don’t mean for the purpose of sports; I can barely swim, and neither of us can water-ski or have been boating much. But we both grew up on Puget Sound and water has a calming effect on us. Years ago, we would sit and stare at the water and talk about our plans, or even fight. The water helps us to articulate our feelings. It’s freeing; everywhere else feels stifling. We really needed the water’s help tonight. For the past week or so, we’ve been trying to catch up on homework while listening to the little kid next door run around. His steps make a “thump thump thump” noise, which gets inside your head and you can’t even think straight.
We ended up down at the water, trying to figure out whether the neighbors’ kid is just a monster or if we’re just too intolerant. (It’s a little of both.) When we started, we were both mad as hell. Our one day off of homework had been ruined. But something about the calm and constancy of the water helped us see things clearly. By the end of our conversation, we were feeling a lot better and talking about moving.
Unfortunately, the calm didn’t last. We stopped at Dairy Queen to get my boyfriend his favorite burger (mushroom and swiss), and then to McDonald’s to get me some fries. I handed the bag of fries over to him…well, not really. I set them kind of on the center console, assuming he would pick them up and hold them, as I was trying to maneuver the car out of the parking lot. He didn’t, and the fries spilling all over the floor of the car. I shrieked at him, he yelled at me, and BANG, our bad moods were back in full force.
I drove around for a bit, then decided to just go home. The water wouldn’t work twice; I knew what I needed. We got home, I threw my bag and coat onto a chair, settled on the couch with my headphones, and turned on The Jane Austen Book Club, which has become one of my favorite movies. It’s amazing really. The book on which the film is based is mediocre at best, but the film in superb. There is a scene in which Bernadette is proposing the idea of a book club devoted only to Jane Austen to Prudie, and she says, “All Jane Austen, all the time. It’s the perfect antidote.” When Prudie asks to what, she responds, “To life!” There was never a truer statement. There’s something delicious about watching six people who read and love Jane Austen and allow the Austen influence to take over their lives.
I recently re-read my favorite Austen, Persuasion. I’ve been feeling depressed lately, so I wanted some “Austen therapy”. Tonight, after such a stressful few days and the added aggravation of the stupid kid next door, it took the combined efforts of the calm waters of the Puget Sound and Jane Austen (albeit in indirect movie form) to return my equilibrium. I highly recommend trying it the next time your stressful day (or life) gets the better of you.
