They say that envy is one of the most common emotions. There is even a commandment about it. I never thought of myself as having envy, but in reality I have probably lived with it most of my life, and sometimes it even seems to drive my life.
Except for my electronic gadgets, I am not much of a “things” person, so I don’t envy wealth or material possessions. What I do envy is people with “Ozzie & Harriet” lives. People who don’t struggle daily just coping with their life circumstances.
I envy people who have much joy in their lives. In fact, you might say that my envy has grown so large that I live a sort of “Walter Mitty” secret life. There is a TV show that I stream almost on a daily basis because of my envy. I have talked about it here before. It is a New Zealand TV show on AcornTV entitled “800 Words”. It is about a widower who moves his teenage kids to a small NZ town called Weld, to get away from all the ghosts in his life. Of course, he continues to be plagued by one thing or another for the three seasons of the shows’ existence. Unfortunately, the show was abruptly cut short by COVID! I wish I could form a production company to bring it back
The show centers around George Turner who is a widower. I am kinda living his life as my own now. I have watched the entire series four times in the last six months. It is a regular staple for my breakfast meal. George has his problems, but he always has people around him to support him. Every character on the show has one quirk or another, but they all mesh so well together. They all support each other despite, or maybe because of their differences.
To me, the show almost represents a utopia of life. I know Weld, which is the town where the show takes place, is a make believe place, but if I could choose anywhere to live in the world right now that small NZ town would be my first choice. Now, before you start strongly recommending analysis, I am not demented. I continue to live in the real world, but why can’t I also have a “Walter Mitty” or maybe “Ally McBeal” life in my dreams?
What is the harm in once in a while, forgetting that I don’t fit well into the real world? What’s wrong with dreaming that I am in sync with those around me? I will soon be finishing up my 75th year. Let me have my dreams. Sometimes, I think that is about the only thing I have left.
Yes, I envy those who had life so easy. I often spout that
Adversity builds character
but sometimes I wish I didn’t have so much character.
RJ's Corner 
Your last sentence chimes with me too. I think that’s why I love reading as can escape briefly!
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You and me both, Frances. I used to read about 4 books a month, but can’t seem to keep up that pace anymore. So, my dreamtime now comes from streaming TV and such. Escaping reality seems to be a must in the last few years.
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My observation is that for every character that is built by adversity, there’s at least one other that is broken by it.
When it comes to emotions regarding self, I am mostly unaware of them. Although I understand the dictionary meaning of terms such as envy and jealousy, I certainly have no comprehension how such emotions are experienced. I can rationally understand how something might be of benefit to me or someone else, but to compare how that something might benefit me versus how it might benefit someone else and then wish I could have those benefits too just doesn’t occur to me. In this respect I’m more Spock-like than Kirk-like.
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Thanks for the thoughts, Barry. For most of my life I too have been in the Spock mode. But, that changed a year ago during the end-of-life trauma with my wife. My emotions were very much in check before that, but I had so many meltdowns during that time to bring them to the surface. I see sad things on TV and such now and am brought to tears. I don’t know how long this will last? But, it is a side of me that I never knew before.
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Regarding NZ TV series, I see that that at least one episode of “Brokenwood Mysteries” is available on AcornTV. It’s part of the “FOODIE FAVORITES” category. The full AcornTV title is “BROKENWOOD MYSTERIES: SOUR GRAPES”. It’s set in an imaginary town of Brokenwood, similar to Weld of “800 Words”, and with an equally quirky set of characters. We’re up to season 8 of “Brokenwood Mysteries” here.
Another NZ series available on AcornTV is “My Life Is Murder” which they identify as Australian. The first series was indeed set in Australia and was a joint NZ and Australia production, but subsequent series have been set and produced in NZ. It’s less quirky as its set around the city of Auckland. The stories are around Alexa Crowe (played by Lucy Lawless), a retired police officer who solves cold cases in Australia in the first series and in NZ in subsequent series.
I don’t have an AcornTV account, and the above info is from advertisements I’ve stumbled across recently on other platforms.
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Thanks for the additional info about NZ TV, Barry. Yeah, I am not a regular viewer of “Brokenwood Mysteries”. I know they just started a new season, but I’m only on season 2 now so have many more to watch. I will check out the “My Life Is Murder”
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