One of my favorite things about the television show Frasier are the themes woven throughout. The primary one being the relationships between Frasier and his father and brother and how it evolves. The other is the new beginnings.
The series starts with Frasier arriving in Seattle, returning to his hometown after years in Boston that ended with divorce. He begins his new life in Seattle with a new job, new friendships and recreating relationships with his family. He is scared. He is recovering from heartbreak. But he is bold!
Over the 11 seasons, the years pass and Frasier begins developing new routines. He builds his radio show. He visits the same coffee shop. He becomes inseparable from his brother. Women in his life come and go but he builds a life of success and comfort and deep bonds.
After a bold change, he settles in once again to a life that soon enough isn’t new anymore. He moves into middle age, seeking love, fulfilling his life’s purpose and in his own quirky way always growing and developing.
But at the end of the series, midway through the final season, he meets a woman, the one he’s been searching for. He overcomes great odds to win her heart, only to discover she is moving to Chicago. He is devastated. His family life has also changed. His dad has remarried and his brother has a child, everyone now moving in new directions. But he has become comfortable.
But this new relationship is enough to inspire him to another new beginning. In middle age, after creating an established career and new friends, he leaves everything to pursue this new love he hasn’t even known for that long. The last time you see Frasier, he’s embarking on his new life.
I relate to this. Complacency and routine turning into major life changes, taking big risks, pursuing new love.
Boldness leads to more boldness. I see it in my family, too. My mom has embraced a new chapter in retirement. My one sister is expanding her family, the other building a small town empire. My brother has taken a new direction with his career and family. New stories full of boldness and purpose.
Just when you think you’re in a rut and nothing exciting will ever happen to you again, well, then it does.
Martin Crane, Frasier
Anna Farley 