Date: February 11, 2009 09:06 pm Title: The Courage To Fail
aww! how precious! i love the idea that Jim is the best cheerleader for her, and even when that's not exactly enough, it's still absolutely everything. :)
Author's Response: Thank you! Yeah, it's great that Pam finally has someone that supports her, even if he doesn't necessarily understand. :)
Date: January 16, 2009 01:36 pm Title: The Courage To Fail
I really enjoyed this, and agree with your opinion about Pam's return. It's hard to remember most of the time that the virtue isn't succeeding, but trying in the first place. There is no shame in pursuing something and then finding out that for whatever reason it isn't for you. That's how you find out what IS for you. Anyway, I really like this series of Jim and Pam snapshots.:)
Author's Response: Thanks a lot! You're right - there's no shame in failure if you've tried, and Pam just doesn't fit a certain mold. She'll be okay, though. :)
Date: January 07, 2009 10:22 am Title: The Courage To Fail
Ya know what my first thought was - soon, her drawings will have a tiny PH. Not a PB. She won't be peanut butter anymore!
Wow, that took a weird turn... back to the story!
Aww, I love this look at Pam. Its such a human thought process, and sort of .... well, really, i suck with the words, so I'm just gonna say I love it.
Author's Response: That's very true...Peanut Butter to...um...Pickled Herring maybe? :) I'm really glad you liked it; thanks! :)
Date: December 29, 2008 09:42 am Title: The Courage To Fail
This is just a wonderful chapter! It would have been a great on its own as well. Many thanks!
Author's Response: Thank you! I've been keeping all these in one collection just so I don't clutter the archives with my nonsense. :)
Date: November 28, 2008 05:54 pm Title: The Courage To Fail
I love Pam's side of all of this. You've got the perfect grasp on Jim and Pam. He loves whatever she does because she does it, and she wants to make him happy. I'm in awe. Great job!
Author's Response: Thank you! Yeah, his love is absolutely unconditional, and it fortifies her. Just the fact that someone thinks she's good enough is almost enough, for better or for worse. Thanks for the kind words!
Date: November 19, 2008 06:39 am Title: The Courage To Fail
Congrats on the blue ribbon!!!!!
Author's Response: Thank you very much! It's my second one, and quite frankly I'm still in shock I got the FIRST one! :)
Date: November 18, 2008 02:53 pm Title: The Courage To Fail
"...because now she lives her dreams for two." This line really struck me. To be honest, my first thought when I read it was how similar it is to "You're eating for two now." As if Pam is pregnant with dreams or something (horribly weird analogy, I know). It is also a beautiful line. Pam does not want to disappoint Jim, and so she keeps doing the New York thing because she wants him to be proud of her. But Jim will always be proud of her, no matter what she does. I think this was a great explanation of why Pam came back. You hit the nail right on the head. I would love to see a follow-up chapter or something about Pam realising that she doesn't need to prove anything to Jim; that she gave New York her all, but in the end, where she belongs is in Scranton, creating doodles that make Jim laugh or designing posters for Michael's newest stunt. Well done!
Author's Response: Thank you and no, not a weird analogy at all - I was going for the power that that type of sentiment conveys. :) I kind of consider the show itself as the follow-up; what I wanted was to give the backstory as to why she'd be OK with coming back that way.
Date: November 18, 2008 02:14 pm Title: The Courage To Fail
My husband said at the end of this episode that Pam wasted three months and thousands of dollars and came home empty handed. I disagreed, for the same reasons you've depicted in this story. Well done.
Author's Response: Well thanks, and high five for disagreeing with our husbands! :)
Date: November 18, 2008 01:22 pm Title: The Courage To Fail
I had that kind of feeling in a university music program. Now lookie here, I'm a scientist.
I love how Jim and Pam are connected to reality but measure success by their own standards (or work on doing it, anyway).
I like how you said pursue her dream, rather than achieve; because achieving something is just an end, while pursuit always looks ahead to more. What's the point if you don't have a dream?
I love Jim and Pam's Non-Adventures.
Author's Response: Thanks so much! I think studying the arts - and moreso, "failing" at the arts - is so incredibly hard to deal with. It's so much more personal than an academic field, and you need to be the BEST to get somewhere. And I agree totally with your comment on puruing vs. achieving. :)
10 [Report This]Date: November 18, 2008 01:10 pm Title: The Courage To Fail
Amen. This is why she cried by the subway, because she tried so hard But she smiled in the parking lot, because she had tried at all for the first time. Beautifully done.
Author's Response: Thank you! And yes, I think you're right. :)
10 [Report This]Date: November 18, 2008 11:46 am Title: The Courage To Fail
I absolutely loved this. My favorites:
It isn’t being alone – that certainly isn’t fun, but she’s dealing with it as best she can. It isn’t that she isn’t cut out for the city – she knows she is a suburbanite at heart, but has been surprised by how much fun New York has been.
It is that being here, doing this, has made it very clear that she isn’t as talented as everyone thought.
They hadn’t wasted time in their hometowns at dead end jobs in dead end relationships. The world of possibility that had opened to her just two years ago was one in which they have always lived. They are more confident, more talented, more sophisticated, more daring, more… everything.
She is almost thirty, and her biggest artistic accomplishments are winning a contest judged by elementary school students, displaying some watercolors at a mandatory art show at the Scranton Community Center and four seconds of animation in a commercial no one aside from her coworkers ever saw.
The explanations for why Pam isn't cut out for New York/being an artist are so insightful and dead-on. I think it shows an extreme sense of maturity and growth on her part to admit that she may not be cut out to do what she wants to do. And I love how she's OK with that, as long as she has Jim. Amazing job, LC.
Author's Response: Thanks so much! I've been in Pam's shoes on this one and it HURTS, although I didn't have a Jim to cushion my fall or encourage me, so she's luckier. ;) I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
Date: November 18, 2008 10:20 am Title: The Courage To Fail
I kinda have to say that I agree with your husband; I hated Pam a little bit at the end of Business Trip. Why go through all of that just to throw it all away, right?
But I really like your explanation of her motivations. Sometimes we're not cut out for the things we dream about, and although that may not be very dramatic or the stuff of poignant sitcom television, it is very realistic, and one of the best parts about the whole Jim/Pam thing is that it is very realistic. So yeah, I'm willing to buy this (bittersweet) happy ending for this part of their story. They always have each other and they do the best they can with what life thorws at them, and that's about as romantic as you can get in life...
Nice work.
Author's Response: Thanks so much - this means a lot, especially knowing that initially you didn't feel this way. She did give up after failing, but I don't think it means she isn't still strong, and can't still find success artistically. We'll just have to see...
Date: November 18, 2008 08:56 am Title: The Courage To Fail
Really wonderful!!! I can tell you've been thinking about this, because you really captured all the angles of the situation and explained them perfectly. I swear, I think I've had that kind of call dozens of times. (God, stupid plot that keeps hitting home with me! I'll stop that, I swear.) And way to work in that "he'll never get over Pam" profoundness about him being the constant cheerleader for her. You're really making me inspired enough to contribute to this! If you still want me to, that is. :P Fantastic job!!
Author's Response: Oh, you. :) Yeah, I've thought a lot about it, but more lived it (see? I can relate to plotlines too! ;) ), and had to explain for her, why accepting failure is brave, too. I'm glad you picked up on that Jim note, as I already told you. :) YES I still want you to contribute, so get on the ball - it ain't like you're busy. ;)
Date: November 18, 2008 06:33 am Title: The Courage To Fail
Another fine job, LC. Your description of Jim's support of Pam was so touching (He is an endless font of encouraging clichés, but he says them so earnestly that she drinks them in without a smirk or a laugh--beautiful). Oh, and BTW, your husband is wrong. I'm in your camp on this one ; )
Author's Response: Thanks, Nan! I don't know that the hubs is wrong, per se, just that he saw it in a different way. I took this story line really personally and I've experienced what Pam did, and I felt like I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt, I guess. It'll be fascinating to see where the writers take our Pam next. ;)
Date: November 18, 2008 02:39 am Title: The Courage To Fail
This is just perfect Pam. A brilliant little summation of her thoughts on art school and life in general :)
Author's Response: Oh, well thank you! I'm so happy you liked it. Like I said, it was very personal - I commiserated (sp?) with our Pam in a way i never had before after that episode, and I wanted to let her explain herself. :)