Image from ChristianCinema.com
Now that the Christmas season is in full swing, my wife and I have been enjoying (again) the endless parade of Christmas movies . . . especially those on Hallmark Channel. Yes, I know, these movies are often formulaic, corny and utterly predictable, yet isn't that why so many people tune in? If there is a time of the year when we want . . . need, "feel good movies" isn't it the Holidays?
Some of our favorites are The Christmas Card, The Note, The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, and Call Me Mrs. Miracle. This year we've discovered new favorites like Matchmaker Santa and Naughty and Nice! To find out Hallmark's schedule click here!
Now, if you've watched enough Christmas movies, have you ever noticed that the plot so often involves someone who lived in a small town, moved to the big city and then some situation occurs that brings the main character back home (grudgingly) to the small town where she grew up. There the main character discovers that what she was searching for in the big city was there all along in the small town and she gives up her Mercedes-Benz, Manhattan loft and job as a high-powered executive to spend more time with family and her high-school sweetheart, in the town she once tried so hard to leave and now can't bear to.
Why is it that the plots don't involve someone deciding that a 300 square foot condo in New York (or Chicago) renting for $2,000 a month, endless hours on a subway, being one person in a crowd of a million, and climbing up the corporate ladder on the backs of others is the way to go?
Have you ever noticed that these movies also often chronicle a reconciliation with someone in the character's life or a rediscovery of how important the relationships really are? A daughter returns home and realizes that she needs her mom more than she thought. A man comes home and learns that the little family business is not such a bad thing and maybe his dad was onto something. People discover that Starbucks is not a necessity and perhaps the lousy coffee at "Millie's Diner" offers something that a chain coffee house, in the big city can never provide.
We all long for good, authentic, close relationships don't we? We all want to be loved, cared for and valued. We all want to be appreciated for the people we are, not just the things we do, the house we live in or the cars we drive. We want to feel more than a name and a number in the midst of the crowd.
Maybe the folks at Hallmark are onto something. I mean, wouldn't you want to live in a Hallmark Movie?
How good have you been at cultivating the relationships in your life this year?
Some of our favorites are The Christmas Card, The Note, The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, and Call Me Mrs. Miracle. This year we've discovered new favorites like Matchmaker Santa and Naughty and Nice! To find out Hallmark's schedule click here!
Now, if you've watched enough Christmas movies, have you ever noticed that the plot so often involves someone who lived in a small town, moved to the big city and then some situation occurs that brings the main character back home (grudgingly) to the small town where she grew up. There the main character discovers that what she was searching for in the big city was there all along in the small town and she gives up her Mercedes-Benz, Manhattan loft and job as a high-powered executive to spend more time with family and her high-school sweetheart, in the town she once tried so hard to leave and now can't bear to.
Why is it that the plots don't involve someone deciding that a 300 square foot condo in New York (or Chicago) renting for $2,000 a month, endless hours on a subway, being one person in a crowd of a million, and climbing up the corporate ladder on the backs of others is the way to go?
Have you ever noticed that these movies also often chronicle a reconciliation with someone in the character's life or a rediscovery of how important the relationships really are? A daughter returns home and realizes that she needs her mom more than she thought. A man comes home and learns that the little family business is not such a bad thing and maybe his dad was onto something. People discover that Starbucks is not a necessity and perhaps the lousy coffee at "Millie's Diner" offers something that a chain coffee house, in the big city can never provide.
We all long for good, authentic, close relationships don't we? We all want to be loved, cared for and valued. We all want to be appreciated for the people we are, not just the things we do, the house we live in or the cars we drive. We want to feel more than a name and a number in the midst of the crowd.
Maybe the folks at Hallmark are onto something. I mean, wouldn't you want to live in a Hallmark Movie?
How good have you been at cultivating the relationships in your life this year?
Keywords: hallmark channel, hallmark movies, hallmark countdown to christmas, the christmas card, the note, most wonderful time of the year, matchmaker santa, rommel anacan, relationship difference, training, consulting, motivational speaker
