Ghost Whisperer – What festers below the surface?

It will not surprise you to know that during 2014: My Year of Pain I gravitated toward mostly-spiritual television. I’ve already talked about Being Erica. Today, I will be talking about Ghost Whisperer.

A few things before I begin:

1. No making fun of things that make someone else feel good.
2. Yes, I’m much older than their demographic.
3. Yes, it was in syndication before I even knew what it was.
4. It, along with a few shows, literally saved my life. I do not say this lightly. There was Being Erica, as I already mentioned and linked. Buffy the Vampire Slayer came next and for comedy relief, Hot in Cleveland.  I watched these shows straight through, buying DVDs from Amazon or the used video/music store in town, as I went. And yes, I will be talking about Buffy in a later post. She rocks!!!

Anyhow, each show stands alone but also shares something in common: they feature women who are vulnerable, yet strong and ultimately rise above to follow their own compass. Whoo ya!

Here’s why I love Ghost Whisperer:

Jennifer Love Hewitt is engaging and her “Melinda” is everything that I never was but wanted to be (as a young woman). Melinda is beautiful, strong, vulnerable, dresses like a goddess and is living her truth by running an adorable antique shop and talking to the dead.

Okay, about this talking to the dead thing… I know the show is manufactured. Of course. Obviously. Duh.

But…

I believe some people can talk to the dead. There, I said it.

Not necessarily self-help-y but not entirely NOT self-help-y, either. Wanna know why? Because, if some people can communicate with another realm and are pushed down, mocked, ostracized, abandoned by loved ones and friends… they need some self-help tools to live in this world. Know what I mean?

(And really, you could plug in “talks to the dead” with a multitude of words that some people find scary, freaky or wrong… you know, words like…. gay, disabled, trans, Christian, homeless, Wiccan… just to name a few. Ahem.)

So, Melinda talks to the dead and the stories in the show highlight those conversations. She’s also very happily married to a man who understands her talents and her foibles, which I appreciate because I have the same in my own marriage. And she has friends … not a lot, but the kind who matter. One of my favorites I’ve talked about on this blog. Delia is played by Camryn Manheim (link goes to my blog post) and I just love everything about her. Camryn, I mean. She is another strong, vulnerable woman… and in this case… of size, which I normally wouldn’t mention except I have talked about my weight about a zillion times here. Anyhow, adore her!

But beneath those relationships and Melinda’s chats with dead folks trying to find the light (or not!) there is another story.

You see, in the midst of this series – season 3 out of 5 – we are introduced to the town beneath the town… Grandview above… “Old Grandview” below. And – of course – the “Old” town had some secrets (and ghosts) of its own.

What you need to know is that for years, I have been writing a book about our cat and a trap door under our bed that leads to… an underground lair. No, more than that… an entire town. I’d stopped writing because Tess died and it hurt my heart to continue. But it was often on my mind. Still is! (Yes, Kaden, I need to finish it! <3)

Underground is where secrets hide – for Melinda – and for me.

Something grabbed me by the collar and shook me. Yeah, I loved the show for all the reasons shared already. But this. This underground filled with festering pain and spirits…. it scared, excited and prompted me to dig… to find movement… forward… away from the pain in my own life that had held me captive.

The grief and depression I’d been carrying weren’t over yet… not by a long shot… but they were breaking away, bit-by-bit, like ice along the edges of a frozen lake.

This is when I found a new therapist. She is the one who encouraged me to swim at the YMCA, draw in my journal, find bliss in small ways and begin to heal.

Can a TV show do all that? Yes, for me, it can. It’s probably because I’m so visual (and visceral) and can (dare I say, “literally”?)  put myself into it. Oh, I’ve talked about this before so I won’t linger here… except to say…

There may be things that touch you deeply that few (or none) understand. It’s okay. I’m here to tell you… to give permission… go there. Grab it. You may be surprised at where it leads.