Saturday, January 24, 2009

Life is a series of rooms


So I was watching another repeat episode of House which made me think about life and its meaning. This is the episode, "One day, one room." about the girl who is raped and only wants to talk to House. The episode itself is full of philosophical debate about pain and life. One of the most poignant dialogues between the patient, Eve, the girl who was raped and House, is about life:

Dr. House: They’re out there, doctors, lawyers, postal workers, some of them doing great, some of them doing lousy. Are you going to base your whole life on who you’re stuck in a room with?

Eve: I‘m gonna base this moment on who I am stuck in a room with! It’s what life is, it’s a series of rooms, and who we get stuck in those rooms with, adds up to what our lives are.


I think this is certainly true, but it also makes me wonder, "what if the only person you're stuck in a room with is yourself?" What then? We all say we can't run away from ourselves, so therefore we must learn to be stuck with ourselves. Why is that so hard though?

This episode also gives me the mental imagery of unlocking rooms or trying to figure out what is behind door numbers 1, 2, 3, and so on. What does each room mean to us and which one are we in in any given time?

Related post on this episode: Greythinking wrote about this episode several months ago, looking at the aspect of the promise (or not) of therapy.

5 comments:

mike-espo said...

Tiptoe,

I think it's a great question and also a philosophical one - do we have to learn to live with ourselves? or do other people factor in?
Perhaps because I've experienced the transformational nature of connection (sorry to sound so sappy), but I do think that "who is the room with you" can make a huge difference in life. That said, I also believe that we can make the choice to share ourselves and our lives with certain people and not with others. We can also open ourselves up or not to other people. So, in that sense, it does depend on us.
- Kristina

K said...

I love House. The show has a lot of powerful messages that make you think. I've seen this episode and it was a good one, thanks for reminding me about it.

Kristina said...

Oops! I accidentally posted under my husband's account.

Tiptoe said...

Kristina, 'tis okay, I knew it was you. :-) You're right in both respects--that it is dependent on us but at the same time, the company counts too.

I guess I was thinking of this in terms of people who live alone. The only person there is themselves and maybe whatever other animals or such they may have. Granted, in some cases, I'd rather be stuck in a room with my animals than certain people but still, there is a need for human connection too.

Ramz said...

Tiptoe

I recently watched that episode and put thought about Eve's quote that you posted. I agree to a certain point what she said. One thing thats apart of life is choices we make that determines the outcome to where we stand today. I'm also a believer in God will put you through harsh and tough situations to see the choices you would make. Weather your stuck in a room with somebody or alone we have the choice to choose to even interact with that person and also have the choice to talk about what your confetable with. So I would say that Life is about choices you make in any room you in regardless if their is anybody in them. With every choice you make, theirs a risk and consequence that your going to have to live with...