Cue up the comfort show

For those who find themselves spiraling into deep, dark places amid the current political climate and state of the world, I have the antidote: “Gilmore Girls”. 

I may not be a doctor, nor someone qualified to offer medical advice, but I know self-soothing with a comfort show works. 

When alarming and overwhelming information bombards my news and social media feeds, I take comfort in the predictable. In fact, indulging in it has helped me more than most other coping mechanisms. 

I take comfort in “Gilmore Girls’” quaint, constantly decorated town that never fails to host a hoopla: Stars Hollow. The show offers the promise of found family and unconditional love — a place where problems arise but never persist. 

Stars Hollow is the utopia I escape to when the rest of the world feels like too much to process. 

The fast-talking, coffee-drinking, seasonally romanticized, community-centric and ambition-driven world of the Gilmore girls feels like home. I see different parts of myself in the show’s larger-than-life characters — Lorelai, Rory, Sookie and Lane — and it becomes easy to transport myself to “Tiny Town, Connecticut.”

Things aren’t always perfect, but they’re contained. 

Adversities are conquered with humor, and mistakes are met with understanding and warmth. The show runs on a never-ending reservoir of quick wit, warm tones and an invisible string connecting family, no matter the emotional baggage. 

Nothing in life stays the same. But there’s something to be said for a timeless show that, in some ways, feels beautifully framed in time, and in others has never lost its relevance. 

I began watching “Gilmore Girls” at 10 years old, a decade after it wrapped production. To this day, I still find myself applying its lessons to my everyday life. 

Around each season’s corner is a new adventure for the Gilmores to pursue — the Chilton cafeteria, the Dragonfly Inn, The Yale Daily News newsroom, adulthood, motherhood, relationships, friendships, life transitions and, to borrow Lorelai’s words, “big honking leaps of faith.” 

While it might seem immature — or maybe even a little psychotic — to expect a television series to pull me out of an anxious spiral or help me dissociate from the country’s political turmoil, I like to think there’s something beautiful about returning to a show that’s shaped my values and identity. 

And if it helps distract me from life’s scarier problems every once in a while, I’m certainly not complaining. 

In this moment of American history, when political actors in our government are delegitimizing education, news and literature so our minds may be more malleable and vulnerable to authoritarian propaganda, I believe staying informed is one of the most powerful things we can do as individuals in a democracy. 

Staying informed doesn’t just mean following the news. It also means asking questions to obtain a fuller picture of the truth.

Seeking the truth forces us to hold ourselves accountable. It teaches us to think critically about what we read and trains our brains to do so with everything else we encounter. It empowers us to challenge the primary narrative we’re fed and maintain autonomy in our learning and consumption. 

And yet, overloading our minds with horrifying information every day is exhausting and, frankly, unsustainable. We must find productive ways to cope. 

So when it all feels like too much to process, turn on that warm and fuzzy show that makes everything feel OK for 42 minutes. 

Allow yourself to take a breath of fresh air in the town square. Take a sip of coffee from Luke’s. Indulge in the pleasantries and challenges of “Gilmore Girls”. 

Take comfort in your comfort show — and return refreshed to question and tackle the problems confronting you tomorrow.