In case I’ve never said it out loud, allow me to put it in print: I like my own company. The fact that I miss being married has nothing to do with my ability to be alone and everything to do with my desire to share myself with someone else. I am fortunate to have a wonderful family, who I can call, text or video chat with whenever I need them. I am also blessed with countless friends from all areas of my life who check in on me, include me in their plans, and reach out “just because.” But sometimes it’s nice to have someone else next to me, if only to give the running monologue in my head a much needed break.

A couple of weeks ago, my “someone else” was Gilbert Blythe. Gilbert and the residents of Avonlea are good company anytime, but particularly fitting on an October afternoon. The same is true for the fine folks in Stars Hollow, the 1994 version of Little Women, and almost any adaptation of a Jane Austen novel, although Emma Thompson’s Sense & Sensibility is my favorite. Lately, however, my favorite companions can be found in a locker room or on a football pitch. While this obviously isn’t a period piece, many of the characters do still come with accents.

A visit from my parents recently gave me an excuse to rewatch season 2 of Ted Lasso (we watched season 1 together last year). After they left, I kept going and rewatched season 3, parceling it out, just a couple episodes at a time, like a conversation I didn’t want to end. There is so much to unpack in this series, I already look forward to watching it for a third or fourth or fifth time. This time through I was struck by how each character is allowed/encouraged to be unapologetically who they are (and loved and accepted and welcomed) and still challenged to be better. That’s a giant plot point for me, right now – loving myself as I am, while striving to improve.

Maybe the group of creative women I mentioned a couple of posts ago can be my own version of the Diamond Dogs? (and if you don’t know what that means, it’s time you watch/rewatch Ted Lasso). I need those kinds of voices around me right now (don’t we all?) and will take good company however I can get it.