S is for San Junipero. #AtoZChallenge
[image error]
Imagine yourself in a beautiful vacation beach town. Photo taken in 2015.
I love to watch speculative and sci-fi fiction, things which also start with “S” and are quite fitting for this post. San Junipero was an episode of Black Mirror, a show that covers possibilities in technology in the near future and is usually very dark and sardonic. This particular episode covered what may transpire in a person’s end of life, and it had me crying at the end. At the start of the episode, I didn’t even see what it had to do with modern or future technology. The characters were at a vacation town in the 1980s, after all. Boy, there was much more beneath the surface.
This episode reminded me of a senior woman from my church that I visit occasionally. She is in assisted living. Sometimes her mind doesn’t seem like it is in the present. But I can say, she is well taken care of where she is, and always seems to find a smile at some point. If I see her and her mind is in the past, there is always the possibility she is simply reliving a happier time. How exactly that ties in with the episode I won’t explain in detail, but these visits also make me think a lot about the phases of one’s life. After all, everything has a beginning and an end. The end can be quick or can take a while. Most important is the quality of life and having your mind in a grateful mindset. I am in awe of her ability to conjure a smile even when she seems tired.
San Junipero is about two friends seeking happiness. I should not spoil it for you, but yes, it made me bawl and it gave me happy goose bumps.
Which brings me to this quote of a song that borrows from a Bible passage:
“To everything there is a season,…
and a time to every purpose under heaven.”
What does the Bible have to do with speculative fiction? I like to ponder things that some consider impossible, for example, the resurrection. I believe there are so many possibilities of what the afterlife may be like; I also believe time is fluid. I tend to stay very busy, but if it was time to rest, I hope I’d simply enjoy the passing hours the best I could. I also hope, when my body is no longer capable of keeping up, that my mind will delight me or at least take me to interesting places.
**The AtoZ Challenge theme for my blog is “Who I am.” Yes, it’s wide open. In April, I will blog from A to Z to include little tidbits about me, poems I’ll share, and stories. Each day I will write something based on the next letter in the alphabet. It’s been fun so far, yet it has really given me a chance to pause for reflection as well.
Want to know more about the A-Z blog challenge? Visit http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com
