It takes a lot for me to admit this, but I actually don’t think a TV show about my life would be all that entertaining. For the most part, the days of my life can blend together; episode after episode of me just planning my outfits for the week, walking to class, submitting assignments on Canvas, and scrolling on TikTok would get way too repetitive wayyyyyyy too fast. At best, my show would probably get canceled after the third consecutive episode about my gripes with paying $8 for a latte.
In spite of all of that, I have been nursing a raging case of main character syndrome for as long as I can remember. As a certified world-class yapper, I still attempt to turn even the most boring moments in my life into epic tales of triumph and defeat (which somehow always end up taking at least 20 minutes to explain). Because I can only force my captive audience of friends and family members to endure these stories for so long, I have often resorted to writing down my thoughts in a diary instead. Since I got that fuzzy pink journal from Justice in first grade, I have cycled through many a diary in tracking the entire history of my life.
Even though I treated journaling like a full-time job all through middle and high school, I have seriously slacked since getting to college. Between balancing classes, extracurriculars, and friends, keeping a diary has plummeted to the bottom of my priority list. As I flipped through the abysmal lack of entries from my freshman year, I was just about ready to declare my journaling days behind me.
But then, I received a piece of life-changing wisdom from a divinely-enlightened disciple: a random TikTok user. Although it’s hard to pinpoint the origin of any online trend, I personally credit user @garbhann as the OG creator. As you can see below, they basically gave each day in their life its own short TV show episode title.
I first saw this TikTok right before leaving to study abroad this summer in Barcelona. Because I wanted to remember EVERYTHING from my summer but would probably not have the time to write it all down, I decided to start my own running list of TV titles in my Notes app. No matter how jet-lagged, dehydrated, or sleep-deprived I was, I made it a point to jot down a snappy name at the end of each day.
Although I can go on and on (and on and on and on and on) about my study abroad experience, I can now separate my summer into its individual days because of my silly little list. Among my 31 episodes, some of my favorites are “Feeling Swell at Park Güell”, “The Wrong USC”, “Got Keys?”, “The Repercussions of Listening to Lana Del Rey at Fourteen”, and “Stranded in Frankfurt.”
When I came back to school for my sophomore year, I was determined to keep better track of my memories and started a new section in my Notes to mark the start of season 2. It was easy to frame every day abroad as TV episodes: the sheer amount of things that would go down in the span of 24 hours gave me plenty of inspiration. Now that I had returned to reality, I was unsure whether I would be able to stick to the script.
Plot twist: I not only managed to produce 73 (and counting!) episode titles, but I ended up finding a more positive outlook on my life. By challenging myself to name each day, I was able to romanticize the mundane and find joy in the little things. That especially awful day where literally nothing could go right? I think you mean Episode 28: “The Girl Just Can’t Catch a Break.” An entire day spent holed up in Powell studying for finals and listening to the release of Pink Friday 2? Nope, that’s just Episode 71: “Barbs Stay in School.”
So regardless of whether anyone would be interested in binge-watching a TV show all about me, coming up with an episode title for every day definitely kept me entertained. I would definitely recommend doing this to anyone looking to channel their main character energy! Naming each day will only take a few minutes, but those memories will last you a lifetime. That reminds me, I think I’ll name today: “Carrie Bradshaw Meta Moment.”