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This challenge is brilliant. Just in answering and reading everyone else's answers I feel closer to you all.

Day Six

In your own space, share a book/song/movie/tv show/fanwork/etc that changed your life. Something that impacted on your consciousness in a way that left its mark on your soul. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

For me it was Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the tv series. I don't recall the show when it was first aired; it's possible I wasn't watching tv back then. At one point, not that long before I really got into BtVS, it was showing as repeats: two episodes of Buffy from different seasons and one of Angel, once a week. It was pulled off the air after I got into it and I didn't go looking.

When BtVS influenced me was after my Mom passed away. I needed a distraction and my friend Susan lent me the entire show (BtVS, not Angel which she didn't have on DVD), season by season. I don't remember when I started reading fandom but within six months I was writing it. Before I started writing, I do recall listening to Joss' commentary and watching myself sit forward whenever he talked about writing. I do recall wondering why I was leaning forward and paying close attention whenever he talked about writing. ;-)

BtVS ties in with a bunch of things triggered by my mother's death. I started taking my health more seriously, went to the doctor, and learned I have hypertension, which is now being treated. I'd been disatisfied with my job for decades but I finally started wondering why the hell I was staying there. I'm now trying to work out if I could have a career that doesn't make me so miserable I can barely stand it. (Can you tell I still have issues there?) I'm seeing a therapist. I'm starting to think about the kinds of people I want to have in my life and reaching out to them. Oh, and, last but certainly not least, I've started writing my first novel. *huge grin* And my writing group is putting together an anthology so I'll have a short story published sometimes this year. *does happy dance*