Fave Fictional Universes: Common Threads Part 1
As I wrote in the first post on this topic, I think that identifying the fictional universes we’re drawn to and their commonalities can help us to move towards living the life of our dreams.
This post is about the first main commonality I noticed among my list: a close-knit community whom you interact with on a daily basis.
Diana and Matthew are surrounded at all times by at least a few of their family members – Sarah, Emily, Gallowglass, Marcus, Ysabeau, Pheobe, Marthe, Baldwin, Jack…
It’s rare for Bing and Flop to be alone in an episode of Bing. They are usually hanging out and having fun with Sula, Amma, Padget, Pando, Coco, Nicky, Charlie…
While Oly is the star of this show, it would be nothing without the extended cast comprised of her and Santi’s extended family and friends: Jacinda, their daughter; Ollie’s mum, dad, brother and aunty; Santi’s dad, step-mum, two step-brothers, grandma and grandpa; their best friends Reema and Vince; as well as Vince’s co-parents Ariel and Talia…
I can’t even remember all of the names of the Downton Abbey cast I watched it that long ago, but in my memory the house is constantly bustling with family members coming and going and planning and arguing. Not to mention full of the wonderful staff.
You’ve got the March family – Jo and her three sisters, mum, dad and their housekeeper who is more like another mum or a grandma type figure, and mean old aunt March. Then there’s Laurie and his grandpa, along with Jo and Meg’s husbands.
Peter Rabbit, the modern, animated TV version.
Peter lives with his three sisters and mum. He is always on adventures with Lily and Benjamin, his cousin, which often involve Mr Bouncer, Jemima Puddleduck and her ducklings, Mrs Tiggywinkle, Nutkin and his crew of other squirrels, Jeremy Fisher, Mr Todd, Tommy Brock, Old Brown, Sammy Whiskers and, of course, Mr McGregor. Sometimes Lily’s mum and dad make an appearance too.
Slightly different to the others, this is a movie which centres around a family at Christmastime. Sarah Jessica Parker is the star, then there’s her boyfriend, and his whole family – mum, dad, two sisters, one of whom has a toddler, two brothers, one of whom has a partner – and then her sister arrives at the end, along with Brad, Amy’s (one of the sisters) high school boyfriend and (spoiler alert) soon-to-be future husband.
The world of Izzy as told by Trisha Ashley in her book Creature Comforts – which I have re-read multiple times because of the feeling it imbues within me (a lot of Trisha Ashley’s books seem to do similar)
I think the last time I read this book (for the umpteenth time) was a few years ago so I’m fuzzy on the names and details. I do recall that Izzy lives with her aunt and someone else who for the life of me I can’t remember. Her aunt’s partner maybe? Anyway, her life involves numerous daily interactions with the other members of their village Halfhidden, similar to Rory and Lorelai’s lives (from Gilmore Girls) and their small town of Stars Hollow.
Vida – who lives with her dads – is assisted by Popcorn to care for all of the many animals of Sweetwood, who are also her friends.
The non-fictional worlds are self-explanatory – The Kardashians, and then the Radford’s who have 22 kids, many of whom have their own kids. Noel and Sue (the parents) have created their own community through procreation!
What this shows me is that – to live the life my heart desires – I need to focus on gathering together a community of at least ten people, but ideally closer to 20, who I see almost daily and who also regularly interact with and are close to each other.
At the moment, my close-knit daily community only really includes James, Aiyana and my mum and dad. Even if we have a couple of more kids that won’t take me up to 10. I have close friends but we don’t even see each other once a week; sometimes we don’t even see each other once a month. I’m close to my brother but he lives in Abu Dhabi and rarely has time to even chat on the phone.
One move I’m already quite certain we will make next year is a literal house move to an area which is much closer to most of my friends and my parents – more like 10 to 20 minutes compared to 40 to 50. I’m also already thinking about how Aiyana starting school in 2027 or 2028 will be a hopefully fruitful opportunity to add to my close-knit community that I musn’t let go to waste.
Did you come up with a list of fictional universes that spark joy in your heart and soul as Marie Kondo might say? If so, what is one of the main commonalities you can spot? And what do you think that means for your future?
I’ll talk about the second key commonality I spotted in the next post.