My husband and I have finished our second viewing of the TV series, Battlestar Galactica. Although, in general I rarely read a book, or watch a show, more than once, at Del’s urging, we began again.
This time was even better than the first. This time, I watched it knowing that it ends well. This time, I watched it while relating it to both my life, and as a writing lesson.
Knowing that the ending is good, I could relax during the tense parts because I knew that for those characters I cared about, all would be well in the best way possible for them.
Knowing that the end is good, matches how I see life in general. I gain strength and encouragement from knowing that the “ending” for all of us is good; that we can choose to view the events we go through to reach that understanding, as either a disaster, or a lesson.
I was constantly impressed by how elegantly the writers picked up a theme and carried it forward; how when I questioned something, they answered it episodes later.
This cohesiveness reminds me of life coincidences; how The Master Writer always insures that all the threads of our life weave together, nothing left undone or unanswered. The more I recognize this, the more I see it in my life. In the same way, the more I paid attention to the threads in the show, the more I saw the masterful design unfolding in the writing.
I empathized with the progressive nature of each character, even the ones I disliked the most. I came to understand their motives and reasoning, and felt compassion for them. Underneath what they portrayed on the surface, there was always a core of good.
The show reminded me of the importance of attempting to understand the motives and reasoning of all the people I know, or hear about, and in that way, I help to reveal that core good so it can come into view.
I watched how the characters struggled over decisions, and how they had to change their point of view in order to evolve with a changing time. Remembering this, I am more aware of my old-perception-driven-decisions, and more willing to allow my perceptions to evolve and soften with life as it changes.
The underlying theme running through the story, “This has happened before and it will happen again,” raised the question, “Can a group of people choose to stop the cycle of reoccurring violence due to revenge, hate, anger, jealousy, and greed.”
Isn’t this a question we are all asking ourselves in this moment in time? Can we stop that cycle? Can we evolve our character so it doesn’t happen again? In the story, each character had to answer that question personally, and make the change within themselves before it could be stopped by the whole of society. This is also true in the story we call our life.
Sometimes I watched a character make a decision that made me mad. I would ask aloud, “How could she not see how wrong that is?” Later I would smile as I watched her discover what we, as observers, could easily see as the only way to go, if peace was to be the answer.
Once again, a wonderful reminder to be more of an observer of the big picture of my life, instead of being lost in details and belief systems that hide from view the entire plan.
As I think about how life distractions constantly take me away from what I think of as my personal mission, I get one more lesson from Battlestar Galactica.
Their basic mission was to find earth; however, there were constant interruptions to their days. Ceylon’s would attack, the ship developed cracks, there were union strikes, personal conflicts, sickness, hunger, scout missions that didn’t work, tactics that turned against them, doubt, sorrow and discouragement were constant companions, yet they continued on their mission. And sometimes, what appeared as a distraction was actually a guide to the next step, and yes, they did complete their mission.
Like any good story, there remain mysteries to unlock, so that even though this particular segment of the story has an end, the thread continues on, as does life.
Many days after finishing the series, I find that I am still replaying scenes in my head, and asking myself, what did I learn here? I know that whether or not I ever watch Battlestar Galactica again, its lessons both in life, and in writing, will remain.
Could there be a more fulfilling result for a writer, or a better question for all of us to ask?
BECA LEWIS coaches, teaches, writes blogs and books, plays with art, and is addicted to reading. She lives in Ohio with her husband and has kids and grandkids scattered across the country.
