Extraordinary Transformation

I feel a little lame for reflecting on Gray's Anatomy on the blog, but I can't help it tonight. Sometimes good thoughts come from unexpected and, yes, even popular sources.

At the end of tonight's episode, the two-hour season finale, Meredith Gray tells Derek she wants to be extraordinary together, rather than ordinary apart. This was, for me, a powerful sentiment.

Now, certainly, I'd love to find that person- that life partner- that will inspire that sentiment within me. But tonight I find myself thinking that perhaps extraordinary always comes with together. It's been a long time since I've thought much about the power of community and relationships, but I really do believe that the most extraordinary things happen when people do them together. To clarify: I believe the most extraordinary things happen when people do them together with love.

Secondly, I find myself thinking tonight about transformation. When I'm not happy with the way things look in my life, I find my first response is to want to turn and run away, to find something new. But my friend Bobbie, time and again, has suggested that the better move is generally to stay in it, and transform the situation. Like grad school. It's hard. It's not what I thought it would be. Many of my colleagues aren't what I want them to be. So, instead of being unhappy in it, I should transform it, right? I should impact the classes, the people, the ways I think about my classes. (Note: I've come to like grad school much better than I had when we originally had this conversation.) I'm not sure why I find myself thinking about transformation, but it seems to have a pretty strong link to my above thoughts. Personal transformation can be pretty cool, but I feel like it's only extraordinary when it affects the lives of others. Transformation's so much better when it happens in groups.

I'm not sure the content of this post is as powerful as its title might suggest, but these are the things I'm chewing on tonight, and it's an improvement for me to be writing them down here at all. I hope these words inspire some thought on your parts, and that you'll drop me a line (comment, email, phone call) to share your insight.