Why did the Friends Reunion affect me so much?
Within minutes of starting the show, I felt a surge of emotion, tears brimming in my eyes as I watched each actor walk onto the set and greet their castmates.
The Friends series has been viewed over 200 billion times, so you must have been born yesterday if you haven’t seen the show at some point. You can rewatch on streaming platforms, or you can purchase the complete series on iTunes for a reduced price of 60$ (just for the May 28-31st weekend).
Watching the show was my weekly ritual for many years. I laughed and cried through many episodes. At one point in the special, we heard from people across the globe as they described how Friends shaped their lives, and in some cases, saved them from suicidal thoughts while in the deepest of depression.
The show ran for ten years—the same period as my most recent relationship. Perhaps the last relationship of my life. It was both heartwarming and -wrenching to watch the actors console each other after their final episode. I realized their sense of loss resurfaced my own grief. All of my future dreams instantly vanished as the most important person in my life slipped away. The beautiful holidays and good times we were supposed to share were now over. Then the what-ifs danced in my thoughts. What if I hadn’t been so rigid and stubborn? What if we had tried harder for therapy? What if…
Like stepping in quicksand, the thoughts pulled me into feelings of despair, sadness and anxiety. Probably the exact opposite of what the reunion show’s creators envisioned.
Yet, the show also reminded me of the importance of connection. Something many of us have missed after a year of seclusion during the pandemic.
To get out of my head and stop dwelling on ineffective emotions, I FaceTimed my mother. We talked about how losses can remind us of deeper ones, especially those we haven’t fully processed. Like the end of my relationship. We only spoke for a few minutes, but the gift of connection was enough to whisk away the fog of sadness and reminded me of a meaningful life philosophy:
“Regrets of the past and dreams of the future consume life. The magical words of living are Here and Now.”