I love rom coms. From the Indie to the cheesy, I’m pretty much always game. Now the classics, the classics are something else. You’ve Got Mail, Must Love Dogs, Sleepless in Seattle, and what entertained me this weekend, Serendipity, all fill me with endless joy that hasn’t dwindled or faded.
Although a great film, I literally hadn’t even thought about Serendipity since I enjoyed a sundae at the Serendipity restaurant in NYC a few years ago. But the boyfriend mentioned the film and then instantly iI had the craving, a craving that needed to be immediately satisfied. Having gotten three hours of sleep on Friday night and then forcing myself to get out on Saturday and enjoy the good weather regardless of my exhaustion, I spent Saturday night in sweatpants watching this classic. I forgot how good it was!
Let’s start with the early look at Jeremy Piven, my Entourage crush. Oh how I’ve missed him. I kept waiting for him to fire someone, alas it never came. I loved John Cusack’s character as well, and especially his ability to rally friends and strangers behind his cause. His cause to know for sure, to find out what if.
I love stories about the what if. Those that seek something just to make sure they don’t live with regret. I always find the characters that didn’t go after the love they wanted, like the dad in Friends with Benefits and the mom in both The Notebook and Guilt Trip (are those the most random examples ever?), to be incredibly sad. They spend their whole lives always thinking that their life could have been happier, more fulfilled had they chosen a different love. In all these cases the people feel like they settled. The partners they did choose made them happy, but they always were filled with regret.
In Serendipity, both characters Sarah and Jonathan, are set to be married but suffer from wondering what if. They met one Christmas Eve by chance, but since both were in relationships, Sarah said that they weren’t supposed to meet just yet. Instead they put their love in the hands of fate, sending out signs into the universe and they waited for years for those signs to resurface. Three days before Jonathan was to say “I do” to someone else, he notices subtle hints in the universe suggesting he make one last effort to find this mysterious Sarah he met years before. Sarah, on the other side of the continent, is freshly engaged but is unable to shake the thought that she was making a mistake. That the man she spent a spontaneous afternoon with was in fact her destiny.
Both set out to find one another. Neither wants to always wonder, would I have been happier? Would it have been different?
I suffer from a fear of having regret. I’m hesitant to not seize an opportunity or follow my gut, because I never want to wonder what if. Not just in the matters of the heart, as in Serendipity, but in all aspects of my life. If there’s something that you feel in your gut has the potential to make you incredibly happy, you should do everything in your power to go after it. Finding Tiffany’s doesn’t just happen. It doesn’t just fall into your lap. You must actively seek it, actively create and seize new opportunities.
Now, excuse me while I go see where I can find You’ve Got Mail, I feel another craving coming on.
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