What John Dorian Taught Me...

Some favorite childhood memories.

I guess when we think back to our childhood, we can all share our favorite moments or hobbies from back in the days. We all grew up watching TV, especially cartoons and Disney movies which might have inspired us throughout our childhood, but what came after that? I would dare to say that we all grew up having one favorite TV moment after another one, right? There are new sitcoms, but there are the classics like Big Bang Theory which still runs on TV as if it was a new show, too. How I Met Your Mother or Friends made us dream of big city life in New York and Sex And The City taught us a little more than friendship and the love for shoes.

In my childhood, one favorite sitcom I like to think of is Scrubs. I was always drawn to comedy and simply goofy characters like the protagonist Dr. John Dorian, or simple J.D.. It was a fun show to watch and also it inspired me to spark interest in biology and medicine... (whatever you watch on TV can have a major influence!). I watched the show back and forth and I made sure to never miss out, even if I knew the episode already. When I was a teenager, the show wasn't on air anymore, but I was fine with that, because then, other shows conquered my heart and sparked even more interest in more topics and genres. I love exploring TV land and studying all the shows, even though many topics didn't make sense in my teenager years.

It was in the pandemic, when I happened to stumble upon my childhood favorite again. Scrubs was back on German television and I felt like a little kid watching it again. I had no idea why I wanted to rewatch it, but somehow I was craving a little childhood comfort during a time of crisis where everything was so messed up and confusing.

I rewatched the show from the first episode and I still remembered many dialogs or funny parts which already made me laugh as a kid. J.D. was still J.D. and Dr. Cox was my secret crush, even after 20 years. In the beginning, I caught myself sitting in front of my TV, wondering why I am investing so much time in rewatching this... this will get boring after a certain amount of time.... but no, I stopped thinking for a bit and just enjoyed the visuals.

The more I watched, the more I was thinking about the dialogs on the show and what things the characters bring to the table. I actually studied J.D. a bit further.

As a kid, I was smiling a lot when seeing him on the screen. As I mentioned before, I loved the goofiness, lots of humor, and the positive attitude. J.D. was known to be a little dreamy, since he was always lost in his day dreams. When being little, one doesn't think about body language or what the actors actually do.

But as a grown up, I was starting a new relationship with this show, understanding that there are not only good life tips for me, but it feels like things like anxiety, self-doubt, mental health in general, and flaws are a big part of the show.

The dreamy and fun doctor is actually a little anxious and insecure human being who does a sweet transformation throughout the show. We basically grow up together with J.D. from his first days of being a doctor where everything is new and stressful for him to becoming a very confident, but still funny doctor who celebrates success and friendships that he has built over the years.

In real life, we strive to be perfect human beings, without any flaws and creating a person that everyone will admire. Showing that flaws are a weakness and that one has to be a certain way to be accepted. But J.D. was the best example to portrait a human being who is open about his flaws, maybe joking a little too much, because he doesn't want to grow up and rather wants to hide his nervous, insecure side. Being an adult today, I can see a lot of parallels when I compare myself to J.D. and I have to admit that I am so thankful that there are writers out there who sat down years ago, creating a character who is not McDreamy, beyond perfect, and a woman's dream, but a human being who is completely perfect with all his flaws and issues he is facing on the daily.

I love to day dream just like J.D. - having a vivid and creative mind which we shouldn't be ashamed of.

We go hand in hand with the characters of the show, learning about life lessons like dealing with grief, death, breakups, and friendship. It's funy that we get to see and learn those things when being kids, but somehow it doesn't help us much, because we do not care about those topics when being 10 years old. My childhood was happy and well-balanced - I couldn't deal with those topics. I wasn't ready nor interested, but there was still much more for me to enjoy.

Today, I sit down and watch this show, thinking that there is a lot I can actually take into my daily and think about further.

One of the things which helped me really a lot was one scene where J.D. explains his relationship with his father. We get to see him interacting with him and being a part of his day dreams where he thinks about his dad being a role model and the usual standards we have for dads or parents in general. He ends his observation with a line that goes like "I realized that parents are not only parents, but they are human beings".

This line hit me.

While being on my very own healing journey, trying to grow-up, and becoming a very good version of myself, it is normal to go through a lot of topics and problems. Sooner or later, one will also deal with family dynamics and what has happened in the past that maybe shaped our attitude or behavior. To heal fully, I am dealing a lot with my family's past and especially the pattern my parents used when raising me. I always see my parents as parents only. Mom and dad. The two people who have figured out everything and the ones who can save me from everything. We grow up thinking like that... it's simply normal. But understanding that my parents are human beings, too, sounds funny, but somehow I never thought about it further.

They make everything look so easy while actually figuring out life themselves, too. They do this ride for the first time, too, and yes, they make mistakes, too. They both have their background, come from different family dynamics, and decided to have a family without knowing what will come all the way. We have been learning about life together actually. And not only we kids make mistakes which they witness and give us timeouts for, but we also see more and more (especially when getting older) what mistakes they do. This is a not a problem and we should be more forgiving here, because yes, it sounds weird, but they might have not figured certain things out yet themselves.

With age you get more wisdom and I believe that parents will always be students, maybe not always students of life, but the kids who grow up, too, will teach them a lot as well.

I really needed this little reminder to be more patient with my parents. More understanding and more loving, because every mistake they make shouldn't influence relationships or dynamics. We are learning and growing together, because we are all human.

I continued watching Scrubs, writing down some smart things that J.D. said, but mostly, I reminded myself that next to learning how to grow up without loosing my mind, it is important to continue to day dream and just create magical fun moments throughout the day.

We can let life pass us by, or we can get active and take every day as a chance to create memories. It is all fiction, but it is sweet to see that even TV shows which are not designed to bring life lessons along, are still feeding us with the right lessons we need to move on and continue our healing.

It's not a waste of time... sometimes it is there in the right moment, teaching us a lesson which no one else could before. I am thankful for my favorite sitcoms teaching me a lot, making me smile, and being my comfort when I was little.

At any stage of my life, they gave me exactly what I needed.

Now if you feel inspired watch some old Scrubs episodes, too, or rewatch your old favorite TV show - I bet you find some new inspiration, too.