Ok, I'm going to do this while I still can...huh. My mush post.
I don't think any of us knew what was coming. I don't think anyone really knew what to expect when, we, whenever or where ever, sat down to watch Hairspray for the first time. I didn't, that's for sure. And I sure as hell didn't know my life was going to change because of it. And yet, here I am.
I think we can all vouch for the warmth, the happiness we feel at the end of the movie- to see these characters end up together in a happy ending was a rare and very special feeling indeed. And maybe it all affected us in different ways.
For me, however, it sparked the motivation, the inspiration, I needed to start writing again after years of deadends and roadblocks. I suddenly had this huge, obsessive need to write Link and Tracy's story, like I never wanted to do anything else before in my life. From the moment I laid eyes on them, I fell in love with these characters. I wanted to know them, and know their second chapter.
And so I did something scary. I started writing again when I had thought I had given up on it for good.
I am so thankful that I did this. Not only have I learned through these characters, I've survived through these characters. Through some of the hardest times in my life, Link and Tracy have kept me going. That might sound cheesy at first, but if you think about it, it makes sense. In this movie, they have hope, they have happiness. So at times when those particular qualities were lacking in my own life, my spending time writing them for my own characters was not only gratifying, but healing.
And in the end, because I started writing again, I realized that it was a passion, a strength, that I never wanted to turn my back on again. I reevaluated my life and my goals and even changed my major to journalism/public relations just so I could (on some level) write professionally. I can honestly say that if I had not seen Hairspray, and had not been so inspired, I'd probably be doing something completely different with my life.
The reason I explain all of this is because I wanted you all to know how close this story, these characters, and the actors who played them, are to my heart. Because to share that kind of feeling, that kind of passion with all of you has been a wonderful, perfect experience. Right as I decided to finish ASFS and move on to other things- that's when I happened upon fanforum. I think this happened for a reason.
Loving it on my own was alright, but sometimes it got hard. Having people to share it with now means more to me than I could express in these silly things called words.
You are my friends. I am grateful to know you all. To ever have a conversation with you. To laugh with you, to cry with you, to fangirl with you, to know you.
Thank you for accepting this outsider into your family. It means more to me than you probably will ever know. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
♥ Amber