Cast of NYC Prep

I’ve been watching the Bravo TV reality show NYC Prep, where the cameras follow 4 teen girls and 2 teen guys through their teen life.  You’ve got Taylor, Sebastian, PC, Jessie, Camille and Kelli, an unlikely mix of public school and private school kids in New York City.  A hilarious and right on review is here.  PC and Jessie, both 17, are prep school kids who used to date, then parted ways, now reconnect for the show as bffs.  With all the arrogance and ignorance of youth, PC and Jessie act condescendingly toward the others, continually making remarks about immature children.  Yeah, I know. The cliffhanger last week was PC and Jessie at dinner concocting their plan to take on – as a charity project – the sweet, quiet, drop dead gorgeous and doesn’t know it, 15 year old Taylor, the only public school kid among the group.  Jessie, the plain one with no real personality, definitely does not like the idea of PC being anywhere near any of these girls.  Every scene with her and PC is edited to make her look as though she’s mooning over him. Half of PC’s scenes are edited to make you think he might be gay or bi (stay tuned).  Sebastian, 16, is another snob, this one with no real cerebral capacity, he relies on his looks to keeps the girls interested.  His attempts at conversation are like his dancing: awkward, halting, spasmodic.  I grew up with a brother who did the hair flip motion, constantly flipping his hair out of his eyes.  The girls eat that up.  But dude, develop a personality.

Kelli is 17 and lives with her 19 year old brother in Manhattan and has a budding singing career.  Sebastian liked her until Taylor came on the scene 8 minutes later, so she moons over Sebastian.  Camille is really goal driven, and likes to stir the pot among the group.  The editing leads us to think she might be a tramp (stay tuned).  We get to watch them sit around in different combinations and diss each other and whine about the angst of growing up rich and privileged in NYC.  PC, unlikely assh**e that he is, has a depth to himself that could be the real storyline for the show.

But, wait, who cares about all of this?  See how easy it is to get wrapped up in complicated storylines, stuff that has nothing to do with what is real in your life and what you want to be moving toward?  Like Camille says, “It’s like a train wreck.  You can’t help but watch.”

But we can help but watch.  If we give it some thought, there is likely a few other things we could be doing that would help us prepave a happier tomorrow than watching NYC Prep.  And what is that?  Well, that’s for us each to discover on our own.

Some of us don’t hit the road to self discovery until we are in our 50’s and 60’s.  Others can have it happen in their 20’s.  And, for those who are forced to grow up more quickly than their emotional and psychological selves can keep up with, it can happen earlier.  Like it seems to be happening for PC In NYC Prep.  In one scene, he is speaking, in his young world-weary way, about all the sex and drugs in the prep school scene: “Everyone has sex with each other and then betrays each other.  It gets excessive.”  If at 17 this is a problem for him, then he’s begun his spiritual journey and that means he’s feeling the pressure cooker and it can’t be fun for him. PC says to his therapist “I’m striving to be someone different,  I want to get beyond where I am  now.” No wonder he is tormented and terrified.

But being tormented and terrified can be a good first step to getting out of a situation we no longer belong in.  When we are tormented and terrified, we learn really quickly exactly what it is we do not want. At that point, we can start considering what we’d like instead.  What we’d like to live instead of the life we’re living.  What we might do.  Where we might go.  Who might be there with us.

These are the real questions of life.  Not who’s going out with whom and what designer is so and so wearing.  Not where is the hottest night spot to be seen in.

Just who am I and who do I want to be? And once I decide that, how do I get there?

And in the meantime, to enjoy my Now moments to the fullest.