Have you ever had a really bad, horrible, rotten day? A
day that makes you want to cry? I had one of those days last
week. There were some changes at my job, and I was beginning to feel really down. Everything that happened was a reminder of lost opportunities and
the blatant showcasing of colleagues being promoted while I have been
successfully pigeon-holed in a role that I’ve never liked. And I kept asking
myself, how did I get here? What choice did I make that put me in such a
position?
The next day was much better—as Scarlett O’Hara said, “Tomorrow
is another day.” However, it got me to thinking about how one really terrible
day can lead to much soul searching and sometimes major changes in one’s life,
kind of like in a novel. How many romances or women’s fiction stories start off
with the heroine being dumped, discovering an affair, being informed she has to
marry a cad to get an inheritance, or some such other major unsettling developments?
There have also been movies that focus on the events that
happen when someone’s day goes horribly wrong. Nothing to Lose with Tim Robbins
and Martin Lawrence comes to mind. It’s a comedy about a man who thinks he’s
discovered his wife’s infidelity on the same day another man facing dire
circumstances tries to rob him. The evolution of their relationship changes
both of their lives for the better; however, they would have never met if one
of them hadn’t had a really bad day.
There are also children’s books with this same theme,
like Judith Vorst’s Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad
Day, and I’m sure there are many other stories like them. So what is it about a
horrible day that makes it worth so many literary and cinematic treatments? Is
it because of the universal theme of it? Everyone has bad days, so maybe we all
connect with that on some level and when we share it, like I am now, it makes
us feel better.
So tell me about a bad day you’ve had. How did you get
back in a good mood? Please do share, and have a wonderful day!
No comments:
Post a Comment