Anne with an E

Holy is this an idea that has been on my list for quite some time now. This has been a long time coming!

It's always a great feeling when there is an idea like that, and suddenly, for whatever reason, the spark of inspiration finally ignites? And an idea...that has been stuck at the bottom of the list...suddenly moves up top?

What's funny is that I try to match the music of what I'm about to write. For this I was thinking, what are some good "olden" songs? But I don't know anything like that. So I searched up "anne with an e" on YouTube Music, and got some kind of soundtrack. See, that probably would've ended up being okay, but to be honest I didn't end up trying it out much because then I thought of something better. I'm shuffle-playing Anna of the North. Her name is kind-of like Anne's...lol? I also just feel like somehow the vibe is right.

Anne with an E is a show that I have fully watched twice at this point. I watched it first by myself, then rewatched with my boyfriend.

The show is a very aesthetic one. It's pleasant and inspirational to watch, and as I'm thinking about writing this right now, I'm almost wishing it was fresher in my mind. But, like my resolution to not really reread books (rereading which I kind-of dislike), I don't think I will rewatch the show a third time. The whole idea of re-something I don't really like, because I always say, why not use that time to watch/read something new? So many shows, movies, and maybe more worthwhile...BOOKS, in the world, that already one person...especially the farther we go on in life (as in, evolution in general) will not get anywhere close to reading all the books, why put oneself back even further?

There is something aesthetic about times & places like the one that Anne with an E is set in. The show is done very well (it is a retelling of a book or maybe book series...I'm not sure anymore. Just a book I think. That they made into an entire show! The book I did read though: "Anne of Green Gables." So already it is a twist, but trust me, it is all done so tastefully well! I can't complain).

All the children walk to school, but it is so not how it is these days. There's no cities, the "city" is like a village with the outside markets. The nature is just beautiful. The cliff, and all the emotional scenes that take place there. Come to think of...I could draw a parallel to the character Cole...though I believe he is not actually in the book and therefore made-up.

Anne walks to school and back through a forest...how romantic is that?! All the times I have written about forests...the blog posts...the pinterest boards...she just gets to live it all.

Walking to school through a forest, is so not equal to walking to school through dirty city streets alongside fast food restaurant chains or whatever else it may be.

Like I've said, the best time to take a walk in the winter is when the snow is clinging to all the trees so that it all looks like a fantastical magical fairyland. Well, so much of the story seems to somehow always be taking place in the winter. I guess, back then, winter were rough times, quite traumatic, and so maybe it always just felt like somehow everything was about winter. Preparing for it, surviving through it. It felt long, and that's why it had to take precedence. But it made for beautiful scenery throughout the story!

And the fashion, of course, it was so different. Instead of now, walking the streets alongside..I don't know, jeans...it was dresses, collars, tights, boots, and trousers for boys. All the girls just naturally look so put together. Always with a ribbon in their hair. Even if I don't like ribbons in my hair, even if some fashion changes were for the best or not my favorite, I can't deny that at least what they wore was so much more aesthetic. Almost like they carried themselves with such a bigger grace. Or forget the ribbons...just the way that Marilla puts her hair back in a tight bun. The "proper" and funny way in which they talk...we lost all that proper talk, didn't we?

There is something so much more simple, free of worries, in that life...Something romantic about the scene where Marilla is washing her hair in the sink.

Just today, and maybe yesterday, I was hit with a yucky feeling of using my phone (been using it more, as it is Spring Break). It just made me feel so much worse, using it.

They wouldn't have to worry about that back then. Life was so much more calm.

Such a big part of the association I have with Anne are those boots.

And let's talk about the athletic abilities! Something that is really funny that I would like to point out about the show is that it seems like Anne is always running. I have to say...she stays fit, and she is definitely skinny. But running through all the aesthetic fields...it is beautiful and no wonder she wants to run! And no wonder she romanticizes her life as much as she does. One should...when being subject to the scenery she was. It's literally as if I lived in a National Park. How amazing, beautiful, and wondrous that would be!

I feel like life back then just forced you to appreciate things so much more and better. Everything Marilla cooked or baked looked ten times better and more thought-through, and probably because it was. Probably because of all the work went into it. It's not as materialistic, things can't just be easily bought, they have to be made. And if they are bought, that's a rare and special treat of a trip to town.

Only in my distant past, did we use the fireplace. Nowadays, people just turn on a fake fireplace on the TV, or they have an electric one that turns on with a switch. To feel like winter coldness though...to get home, and have to start the fire? To have to cut the wood?

Though it is not ideal, the whole idea of brother and sister (Matthew and Marilla) living together side by side, not too young but still very able managing a farm and household, and then deciding to hire a boy (which turns out to be a girl but who brings so much light into their lives and that becomes basically a daughter)...is pretty romantic to me. Not that it wasn't by choice. Both Marilla and Matthew, had a chance for love that they rejected. They just chose to reject it. How different it could have been!

Speaking of fashion and special, the adorable way in which Matthew views and treats Anne like a daughter (or granddaughter?). Makes my heart melt the way he is soft towards her, instantly likes her and is attached to her, even though he is a man of few words. He doesn't need to say much, or maybe anything. There is something SO refreshing about a person who doesn't have to talk all the time. A person who is just quiet and calm. A person who is just himself.

In these days, there is a constant pressure to talk. There is no silence. And there is always stimulation. Music. Stores. Material. Social Media.

It should be normalized. Silence. Calmness. Quiet. Just being yourself. Whoever that is. And that not being weird. Not ostracized.

Everything is more special by there being "less" of it, I guess, in a way. Like the special dress that Matthew buys for Anne. Places like that...the dressmaker...the shoemaker...don't exist anymore. Things used to be more special. And now they are just mass-produced.

Though I guess, you get more variety that way. And that is one good thing.

They still have so many themes I care about. Like academia. I love the way Anne is so competitive about school with Gilbert. It still feels like dreams can be accomplished. Anne wants to be...something. Gilbert wants to be a doctor, and they study. But at the same time, it still feels life is less stressful. If Gilbert needs to take care of his father, or help out with taking over the farm, no teacher is going to be calling her parents or police knocking at his door, no letter from the principal to the household for the plethora of "unexcused absences" and lack of "notes and calls" from parents. And still, things are calm. And yet still, things can be accomplished.

So many great adventures Anne had. And the trials she had to go through to get closer to Matthew and Marilla and gain their trust (especially Marilla's!) I will say, Matthew, him just being the type of person that he is, she gained almost immediately. Or Rachel's...she definitely had to earn Rachel's. As well as Mrs. Barry's. Yikes. I guess there are lot, and probably even more that I'm not thinking of at the moment...but I don't want to. That's quite enough people's trust she has to gain as is. And all those little adventures and trials just felt special. Like the teatime she got to have with Diana. It felt so aesthetic and she cherished it so much.

I must mention the cherry blossom trees! They are beautiful. I am so jealous that that is just a natural part of Anne's scenery. If I was her, I too would want to sleep in that tree! As she always says! (I technically think it's a different type of tree but I don't care). Ah! That's another thing! All the beautiful quotes that Anne says and the way she has to romanticize her life (and the funny way she butts with Marilla. Yes it is true...their relationship is rocky at the start. It is funny to me how Anne asks her if she ever imagines thing were different from the way they are and Marilla laughs and says no as if that is most ridiculous thing ever. Well to her, it truly is). With time, everyone warms up to and loves Anne. And life is so much better with her than it was without her. That is a key thing to note, and a good way to end this. Even though I bet, there are so many things I'm not thinking of in the moment! Things I will think of!