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One StephanieKlein.com reader will win a 3 month subscription to Netflix (merci, Netflix)! Already a Netflix subscriber? No problem. The 3 months will be applied to your existing subscription! More about how to enter below.

My own personal “Throw Back Thursday” (#TBT) has never much involved posting a photo from way back when. I’ve been more of a throw back a cocktail on a Thursday afternoon kinda girl, in honor of afternoons spent working at a Madison Avenue advertising firm, where we did just that, though it wasn’t limited to Thursdays. My Mad Men boss kept a bottle of hooch in his desk drawer, and we’d tie one on before hitting the local watering hole to talk, magically, about anything other than work. People were allowed to light up in the office because Philip Morris was one of our clients.

I watch Mad Men, but my own personal theory is that Don Draper is a sociopath. As if the creator pitched the show, saying just that. “The main character is a functioning sociopath with a complete lack of conscience. With a demand for immediate gratification, defiance of authority, high self-confidence, and an extreme lack of empathy and close attachments, he’s excitement seeking, making him exciting to watch.” And a dick. Named Dick and Don and Dick. If you haven’t seen it, catch up on Netflix from Season 1. If you’ve tried and couldn’t get into it, try again, seeing it through this psychological filter. Is he a sociopath?

I loved those earlier days in my career, mostly that team atmosphere. But I love the even earlier look back at the me I wanted to be when I still lived at home with my parents and still dreamed of having this one single answer, a definition or vision, of who I wanted to be when I grew up. As if it were that easy. One answer. Just a costume at a store. Pick your future. I thankfully now know that it’s much healthier to wear your identity looser, that we aren’t our career.

Over Spring Break, Abigail and I broke into some of the old school offerings on Netflix, introducing her to Alex P. Keaton and The Beaver and to a world of country clubs who exclude their members based on race and religion, out in the open. It’s made for lots of honest discussions about bravery and honesty, about peer pressure, about making unpopular decisions. About choosing to be friends with someone, even when your friends make it clear that they don’t approve of your choice (adults send this message, though don’t do it outright). The messages are always the same: don’t limit yourself. Keep yourself open to possibilities, be authentic, be honest. To do this isn’t easy because true deep intimacy is formed through deep true confession, and vulnerability and trust aren’t composed of casual. You have to risk. Some of these Netflix offerings started the conversation… plus, I’m addicted to the theme song of Family Ties. Sha la la la.

Saved by the Bell
The Baby-Sitters Club
Family Ties
Jem and the Holograms
The Hardy Boys Nancy Drew Mysteries
Spiderman and His Amazing Friends
Transformers

1. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
2. The Care Bears Movie
3. The Smurfs and the Magic Flute
4. Strawberry Shortcake
5. Curious George
6. Sesame Street
7. Dumbo

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