There are certain shows you watch that teach you a lot of things about life, love, and friendship—lessons that you probably already know and have heard of before but very much needed to be reminded of.
That show for me, at the moment, is Viu original series “K-Love.”
I went into this series without any expectations. I wouldn’t have thought I’d be hooked in the very first episode. 16 episodes in and I’ve developed parasocial relationships with each character, as if they’re my friends too, as if I’m going through their problems and their successes with them, as if they could hear me rooting for their well-deserved happiness.
And after a while, I realize that it was because I can see myself in their shoes. I’m Jay when he’s too scared to admit his feelings for someone he loves. I’m Tish when she is pressured to be the kind of person other people want her to be. I’m Frances when she wants validation for her short story, something that she’s passionate about outside of her career. I’m Val when she doesn’t let herself back down from a fight. I’m Shiela when she forgets to put a lid on her opinions.
And so the things that they all discover and experience in their lives are things I get to discover and experience too as I watch the show. I find myself grateful for the many life lessons I ended up taking with me from “K-Love” on how to live a meaningful life in the last year of my 20s. Here are just a few of them:
Look for people who you can be your true self with.
The older you get, the more tiring it is to pretend to be someone you’re not just to meet other people’s expectations. True friends will accept who you are, flaws and all, and help you be the best person you can be. The love shared by the K-Squad (or “Shiela and Friends,” as Shiela assertively calls them) is special because they see each other as their safe space away from their day-to-day problems with love, work, and family. More than anything, we deserve people like that—the ones who’ve got our back no matter what.
Follow your dreams.
Cliche, but important. It’s important to know what really sets your heart ablaze and to carve out time in your busy schedule to do it. I love Frances as a character because she knows what she wants to do with her free time and works hard to nurture it. She taught me that you don’t have to sacrifice anything to do what you want and that there will always be people who’ll support you along the way.
We don’t have to do everything ourselves.
No person is an island, or so they always say. It’s difficult to accept but it’s true—you must always be open to receiving and asking for help when you need it, and you aren’t “weak” to do so. It takes a particular kind of strength to admit that you can’t do things alone. Tish learns this after becoming physically incapable of doing something at home and I won’t forget the look of peace on her face when she let down her defenses and allowed someone to take care of her. So workaholics, heed these words: you need to cut yourselves some slack every once in a while!
Never settle for anything less than what you deserve just because you’re scared.
Fear is often the cause of unhappiness. We feel that as long as we stay within our comfort zones, we won’t end up hurt or disappointed. What happens then is that we miss out on big chances that would have brought us to much better places. This is most especially true in the realm of dating which becomes much harder to navigate the older you get, as evident in the storylines of Tish and Jay. We older millennials think we’re lucky if we manage to find someone willing to date us even if we’re not really a good fit for each other because we’re terrified that we won’t ever find someone down the line.
But if we let go of that fear and accept what it is we truly want for ourselves, and then go and unapologetically chase after it, we could be much happier and freer people.
Slow down and appreciate the small moments.
Often, we forget to hit pause in our busy lives and see all the good things that surround us. When we drown ourselves in work, we might miss out on the more important things like family. Shiela struggles with this often as she hustles constantly to put on the best high school reunion or to flourish as a micro-influencer. Val also makes the mistake of prioritizing her company over making a meaningful connection with a special guy. It takes someone to reel them both back in and remind them that things might slip away from them unless they stop and be grateful for what they have.
It’s a conscious choice to break the cycle of hurt.
It’s hard to forgive when the pain runs deep, when the emotional damage from a difficult childhood has yet to be resolved. But it’s a conscious choice to break that cycle of hurt and not lash out at friends and family. You must learn to accept what you cannot change about your life and make peace with it so you can move positively forward.
I definitely learned a lot from “K-Love” and I’m certain you will too. It isn’t just a feel-good show filled with laughs and kilig moments; neither is it one merely filled with tear-jerking drama. It’s such a great balance of both, a reflection of real life, and I’m certainly taking these lessons with me for a long time to come.
If you missed out on previous episodes, you can still catch up and binge-watch the full season of “K-Love” for FREE exclusively on Viu!
(ALSO READ: How the Characters of “K-Love” Are Basically All of Us)
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