Hello! It’s been a while! But I was compelled to write a newsletter this week because I have very exciting Friday good news. The second season of Ted Lasso drops today! As such, I will be unavailable this weekend while I mainline this good good content directly into my veins.
But in the months leading up to this auspicious date, I often went back to rewatch the first season of the show, which follows the titular Ted as he goes from coaching American football (angry tackle football) to coaching European football (somehow angrier soccer). Ted’s enduring trait is his relentless, unflagging optimism. He has a bafflingly sunny disposition, even in the face of overwhelming odds. And his cheeriness rubs off on the people around him. In his interactions with the other characters - the owner of the football club, the players, his fellow coaches - he supports them and brings out their best, even as they fight him every step of the way.
There’s a scene in the first season where a player is lamenting to Ted that he’s angry, and he can’t control his feelings. And Ted jumps up, waves his arms around, and says “then by all means, let them control you!”
It’s a perfect scene.
This scene is my Xanax, this scene is my therapy. I’ve come back to these words a lot over the last year. There’s a tendency (I have a tendency?) to give in to whatever you’re feeling and let it wash over you, to sink into sadness or allow anger to let you lash out. But that’s not your only option when feeling something strong, and I often need that reminder from my fictional coach and owner of the best and only good moustache, Ted.
There’s a reason why rewatching old favourites is so soothing. It’s a way we can regulate our emotions and process feelings, because we know exactly what will happen and how it will make us feel. When things are overwhelming, retreating into the familiar is a way of coping. For some, that’s horror movies that allow for a safe way to spike adrenaline, or dramas that promote a much-needed cry. For me, it’s multi-season sitcoms that I can put on in the background like white noise.
That’s why I’ve returned over and over throughout the past year to comfort watches like Ted Lasso. I’ve spent a lot of time inside one room of my house, tracking Covid case numbers and adapting to whatever phase of lockdown Nova Scotia is in at any given time. I haven’t seen my family in two years (hi Mom! I hope you remember what I look like!) It’s been stressful and lonely and tough at times.
That’s why I keep returning to the comfort of a chosen universe. One where I’m in a charming English town, and I care about soccer, and I say to myself “What would Ted tell me to do?”
Recommendations From the Slush Pile:
I fact-checked this piece on why some storefronts stay empty for years and it was enlightening and depressing in equal measure.
When was the last time you looked at a manhole cover? You might pay more attention now.
You need to make an ice cream sandwich.
The Novel of the Week is One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston, which I read immediately when it came out (I got that pre-order, babyyyy!) and have returned to already because the banter is that good.
One Last Thing:
This editing is so smooth it makes my brain hurt.