Planets and Universes

I wrote this yesterday morning, and will do a follow up in a day or so

It seems like every piece of entertainment has to be a part of a shared universe. Which can be fun but also maddening.

When I was a kid and I watched an Indiana Jones movie which had a scene in some temple or whatever and one of the walls had a character from Star Wars on it. Back then, this would be called a fun little Easter egg.

But today things like this inspire contentious arguments and insane theories about how these two movies fit in each other’s shared universe. What once was silly and fun has now become annoying. It’s not uncommon to see discussions online that try to “prove” that, oh, I don’t know, Seinfeld and Teletubbies take place in the same universe or whatever.

I could easily rant about this for hours so I am going to move on.

My point is that we as humans have our own little universes. And within our universes we have different planets that we visit. For me I have his world, his job, his friends. Rarely do people from these planets interact. It’s unusual for me to socialize with my work friends and non-work friends at the same time.

And! I have Hannah’s world, her “job”, her friends.

Besides my wife, there is no person in the world that sees every aspect of my universe. My wife and I can talk about work while I am brushing my wig for a day out.

Although Hannah has her friends and he has his friends, there sometimes is a desire to crossover. What I mean is that he has some wonderful friends and it would just be nice if Hannah was their friend, too.

This feeling was really really really strong fifteen years ago. This desire doesn’t burn as hot as it used to, but sometimes the embers glow and flare.

I think coming out is exhausting and I don’t want to do again, lol. Introducing Hannah to his friends requires The Talk and at this point in my life it’s like trying to explain a television show that has been on for ten years and helping someone get up to speed on it.

Maybe I should make a Powerpoint demonstration to send to people.

I suppose there’s also the fear or rejection but that’s another topic for another day.

As of this writing, I have plans to see a play tonight with my sister.

Well, Hannah has plans to see a play tonight with my sister.

That’s amazing.

My sister met Hannah several time over fifteen years ago. But a lot of time has passed since then and I feel more comfortable and confident and authentic than I did back then. At that time I felt like HIM wearing makeup and a wig. These days Hannah feels different. She has her own gestures and body language and voice inflection and personality. All of this evolved organically over time.

I am a little apprehensive about my sister meeting Hannah. Hannah is not her brother wearing makeup and a wig anymore. I think this may be a little jarring to my sister.

All of this sounds like I have multiple personalities. I don’t, promise, lol. What I mean is that we all are a little different when we interact with people from different parts of our lives. He socializes with work friends in a more restrained, less personal way. He socializes with his non-work friends in a very open manner.

I think we can relate to that. Is he the same person in both of these interactions? Of course.

I see this shifting dynamic applicable to HIS world compared to Hannah’s world.

Same universe, different planets.

Love, Hannah