Livet er nå – Life is Now.

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“Whether you believe in Allah, Jesus, the theory of evolution, or parallel universes, there’s only one thing we know for sure. Life is… now.”

Who would have thought the quote above would come from a tv show revolving around a bunch of Norwegian teens with relatable problems? With four seasons under its belt and multiple remakes from all over Europe, SKAM is one show I wished I grew up with when I was a snivelling teen with problems that seemed so far away now. Covering issues that ranged from sexual assaults to LGBT to mental illness and religion, SKAM was a breath of fresh air when it first came out, and even to this day, it remains relevant. 

SKAM was my comfort show when I was in the deepest throes of my mind and this show helped me in ways that meant a lot to me. I could write a whole essay on what this show taught me but here are just a few things that I learnt all written down in quotes. (I had to scour all this by rewatching the show including the remakes).

  1. “Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind. Always.”

A reminder to all of us that everyone is struggling in ways that a lot of us don’t know about. We aren’t born to be assholes, it’s our choice to be one or not, so we should reserve our judgments (no matter how difficult it can be) and try to be kind to people around us. Always.

2. “Hate doesn’t come from religion. It comes from fear.” 

This might be a sensitive topic to broach but let’s face it, religion has become a shield for people to commit things. People fear the unknown and this fear leads to misunderstandings and overtime prejudice and hatred. I may not be an expert but I believe the basis of all religions is to not hate on others, but instead to treat others how you would want to be treated yourself and to always love and be kind to others.

 

3. “You have to accept that not everyone sees the world the same way that you do.”

Let’s face it, this has become so commonplace to the point that you don’t even know what you can say or do without offending anyone and I face this hypocritical situation all the damn time, especially on social media. Freedom of speech is something that many people advocate for and yet when met with views different from theirs, they shut you down and can’t accept it. How can we expect to achieve world peace if we can’t even agree to disagree?

 

4. “You can’t keep isolating yourself. Everything is harder on your own.”

Opening up is never easy. But what’s worse than keeping everything to yourself and letting it simmer to the point that your eruption could be greater than that of Yellowstone? Opening up doesn’t mean you have to tell the whole world of your problems, all you need is that one shoulder to cry on. Trust me, it feels freeing to let go of your worries and have someone to shoulder them with. You are not alone.

5. Minutt for minutt. 

“When everything seems hopeless, just take one day at a time. And if one day becomes too much, just take one hour at a time. And if one hour becomes too much, then just take one minute at a time.” Nuff said.

Six years later and I’m still holding on to some of these quotes, particularly the last one (I even have it engraved on my watch). It’s kind of difficult to explain how a mere couple of words helped me along the way but hey to each their own right? With everything that’s going on in the world right now, we all need little words of wisdom to cheer us up. “Fear spreads, but fortunately, love does too.” ALT ER LOVE.

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