If you grew up in the 90s you are perhaps familiar with City Slickers and the One Thing you need in life. If not, that’s fine, you’re not missing much because SPOILER the entire point is that that one thing is different for everyone, and you have to figure out what it is for yourself.
HOWEVER.
Lately the Spousal Person and I have returned to a TV dramedy series I started years ago when it first came out and then, for one reason or another (small kids, having no life due to being a teacher, etc), never continued.
WELL.
It turns out Upper Middle Bogan is on Stan, and I stan this. #SorryNotSorry (Oh, huh, it’s also free on ABC iView.) It’s a quirky comedy sitcom set, I guess, in the 20-teens in Melbourne, Australia, and portrays the events unfolding when the decidedly upper middle class anaesthetist Bess learns she is adopted, and that her birth family are, well, bogans.* It’s poignant and funny and a masterclass in building character and it’s filling a gap in my life right now. It’s peak Australiana, more serious and mature than Kath & Kim but still incredibly funny, and a very accurate portrayal of Life Down Under. It’s also a nice phone call from pre-2016 about the importance and value of seeking humanity across class and political divides, so you know.
* Bogan is a decidedly Australian term denoting not just the working class, but the blatantly working-class working class.
The episode we ended on last night reminded me of why I love the show as much as I do: in a masterclass of storytelling, the episode wrapped the silliest of the subplots in a poignant little bow, and delivered this life gem:
Life is simple.
You only need three things in life.
Something to do…
…something to look forward to…
…and someone to love.
The fact that it appeared out of nowhere – context is everything – made it land like a punch in the gut, albeit a friendly punch that made you feel better not worse? Okay so that’s a bad analogy BUT REGARDLESS in context, delivered how and where and why it is, the lines were not only an example of the pinnacle of storytelling, they hit me right in the feels where I needed to feel them.
Yeah my life is messy and unpredictable and full of garbage, these days perhaps more than usual.
Yeah I’m a chronic over-thinker who is capable of spiralling about anything and everything.
But you know what? I have something to do (more, in fact, that I want to do than I am actually physically capable of); I have things to look forward to (this, if nothing else, and there is actually plenty else), and I have people I love, and who love me.
Life can be incredibly complicated.
But in the end, it’s also pretty simple. And I was grateful for this show, and the episode that managed to remind me of this.
REMINDER! You can now sign up to get blog posts in your inbox instead of having to check the site manually. Pop your email address in here and away you go – and no, this doesn’t sign you up to my mailing list or anything else EVER, it’s ONLY for getting the blog posts into your inbox. <3