It’s not about death, it’s about life
Photo by Yohann LIBOT on Unsplash
Life Lesson #1: “The pain doesn’t go away. You just make room for it.”— Andrea
Ever wonder what all the hype surrounding the TV show, The Walking Dead is really about?
Without ever having watched an episode, you probably know The Walking Dead (TWD) is:
- a show about zombies
- gory and violent
- wildly popular with fans
- loosely based on a comic book
- not a children’s show
I hated zombies
These were in fact most of the things I assumed when I first heard of it, not long after the first season premiered on television, in October of 2010.
In fact, my assumptions were so strong, I refused to watch it at all.
My oldest son and his girlfriend were watching it.
My oldest daughter was watching it.
Many of my friends were watching it.
Still I refused to join in. “It’s zombies and I don’t like blood and gore” was my response every time someone told me I just HAD to see it.
In fact, through the first eight months of 2011, I even trash talked that show, clucked my tongue, and thought a bit differently of those who watched it.
But believe it or not, I soon discovered that The Walking Dead is not so much about zombies and death as it is about life and the lessons we all need to learn along the way to survive.
Keep reading to find out how this change of heart came about.
How it began
Spending quality time with my children after my father’s passing in June 2011 brought comfort. My oldest daughter came to spend the weekend in September.
The pain of losing someone doesn’t ever go away, you just somehow make room for it.
My daughter begged me to watch just the first episode of TWD with her. She’d already seen the first season but wanted to re-watch it before Season 2 began in October.
I think in her own way she was trying to comfort me after losing my father. And she really wanted me to watch it with her.
I acquiesced with the condition that she would alert me to the gory parts and I could choose to close my eyes. And I did a few times.
But it was quality time with my oldest daughter. I was soaking it up as best I could, despite the zombies and gory parts.
How the show changed my mind
By about the third episode, I still groaned about the zombies, but I was hooked by the characters. We watched the entire season together that weekend.
And believe it or not, this “I hate blood, gore, and zombies” single mom of four (and grandmother to three by then), sat in anticipation of the Season 2 premiere less than a month later.
TWD is now in Season 10.
- I’ve seen every single episode more than three times, some more than that.
- For at least three years, I watched it with my youngest kids, now 16 and 12 (although the youngest usually fell asleep about five minutes in).
- I got my best friend and her husband hooked. We had TWD viewing parties on Sunday nights for several seasons with our kids.
- We all dressed up as the TWD characters for Halloween several years ago.
- Norman Reedus is now on my bucket list! Meeting him — sheesh, get your mind out of the gutter!
Suffice it to say, The Walking Dead is far from just a “zombie show”. Sure they’re there.
And if that’s what you’re into — and for those who are into them, they are freaking awesome.
But I don’t even really see the zombies anymore.
For me, TWD is about life, love, and survival, not just zombies and death.
My series if you’d like to follow it, is about The Walking Dead and the life lessons therein.
Life lessons there for all of us — if we can just see past the zombies and the horror.
I'm also a new fan of the spin-off show called "The World Beyond" which started this Fall. It's the same world but different characters, a group of young high-school-age students trying to find their way.
Whether you’re a TWD fan or a current zombie hater, follow me as I reveal more of the life lessons this zombie hatin’ grandma found among The Walking Dead.
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