And Feeling Validated
When I first watched Titanic, I was, predictably, emotionally crushed—but I also felt a jarring discomfort. (And no, it wasn’t whether Jack could have fit on the door!) It was at the end, when an old Rose dies, and her younger self is reunited with Jack. Beautiful, heartwarming, right? But we’d seen photos of her full life, with a husband she’d found after Jack. In Rose’s afterlife, where was he? Did she have to split her time between her two loves?
It seems silly, but my reaction never left me. Then I read a book that addressed my very concern! It wasn’t about Rose and Jack, but the protagonist, who was near death, was agonizing over his boyfriend. He wanted Adam to find love again, but he was afraid of what would happen in heaven. Would he have to share Adam for eternity?
Yes! I thought. Finally, somebody thinks like me! It was yet another reminder of the power of stories. It was validating my own thoughts and feelings. Books can do that for us on big-scale ideas—validating our own sexuality or life choices or identities—but they’re just as valuable in validating us about the small things—like esoteric thoughts about the afterlife.
It’s why I write. Maybe, just maybe my own ideas, put on the page, in the heads of my characters, can connect with readers and help them feel validated, too.
If that isn’t a reason to keep writing, I don’t know what is.