Everything I Know I Learned from Star Trek

Well, more or less.

I learned about kindness, and why racism is bad, and history and myth, and heroism and villainy, and friendship and enmity, and doing what's right when that differs from what is legal. In other words, I learned about life in theory, and - in spite of my mother's worries (which she still has, though I am in my late forties), I do understand the difference between Star Trek and reality.

Her concern may now have more to do with my daughter's ability to separate the two, as my enthusiasm for the stories and characters has infected Abby. I showed it to her deliberately, and over the course of the summer thus far, we have watched all of the Original Series, all of the Animated Series, the first four films, and about two-thirds of The Next Generation.
She loves it.

It's possible that she is not as involved as I was at her age or a little older, because she has an outlet for all that creative energy already, in the theater (and let me tell you about the great production of Footloose she's part of just now, but that's really another post). When I was her age, I hadn't yet discovered role-playing games or fanfic writing, and although I played the cello, I didn't have a lot of awareness of my true passion for communication.

So we're watching, and enjoying, and - as was the case with Doctor Who, but less so, as I only know NuWho very well - I am seeing it afresh through the eyes of my child. And that's kind of amazing. She's also far more genre-savvy than I was at her age, and so things like the dichotomy between Very Progressive Ideas and Very Short Skirts are discussed and deconstructed. Also, most of these actors have done other work that she has seen (or heard) them in. She really digs that.

Abby's not the only one with whom I am sharing old favorites. I'm rereading the Mallorean, which is my usual Comfort Literature. And Lizzy and I are listening to the audiobook of The Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy, courtesy of Audiobooks, Inc. and Stephen Fry, whenever we're alone together in the car. I love that she understands these, as I certainly wouldn't have at not-quite-eleven.

I do love my electronics, and my Facebook presence is far less involved these days for my own (mental health) protection; I am now set to Friends Only, and am only posting lighter stuff, and for the sake of my sanity, I now refuse to read the comments on any political article, anywhere. I'm just trying to stay informed without twisting my guts into a knot over the stupidity of my fellow humans and countrymen. So I'm reading less fraught articles, and posting such gems as "2016 Presidential Election - Shaka, when the walls fell," which mostly only those of my own tribe will grok.

And if I can teach Abby and Lizzy about reality through metaphor, based on the classic science fiction of its time, I will.