These were some thoughts I wrote down after finishing The Office--which I started over a decade after it first aired, the first show I ever watched through on my own:
Pam becomes much more attractive after she is married; her appearance has a striking difference to her early years. It gives hope that I, not yet 30, will still be able to shape my appearance to fit who I become, and that my best years can still be ahead of me.
Wanting to hold onto people forever. Interesting the part Michael Scott plays in the finale. I thought his return would be a huge factor, the pinnacle of the episode. But it isn't. They are glad to see him, and they welcome him with hugs and tears, but he isn't even invited to the final gathering.
What a perfect, ordinary, special special love story Pam and Jim have. It mirrors my own and gives me a lot to strive for at the same time.
Pam is eager to stretch herself, to live her dream, and to anchor her family. I have admired her character's struggle to promote her talents and opinions, and her innate goodness that pushes her outside of her comfort zone.
Kevin says that if you film anyone long enough, you eventually will come to love them. I want to pay more attention to people and the details of their lives. I shouldn't need a 9-season show to help me fall in love with those around me.
A room full of the un-ideal, the ridiculous, the laughable, the pathetic. And yet, through serving each other and enduring, they are able to forge a community bond. Such an enviable outcome. It's why I want a large family--to have someone to share that with. But not just for a decade or for a career--it seems like graduations, interstate moves, life's twists and turns all seem to bring an end to these relationships--that's how The Office ends, with Pam and Jim leaving and thus the "documentary" itself drawing to a close...so many faces leave. But a family can be together forever. I want that. I crave it: sowing connections that will never have to fizzle or fade across time and memory. In family, something will always stay. Jim and Pam get that, with their daughter and son. I want that with my own family.
