Some time ago I was one of the bachelorettes in the Norwegian version of “The Bachelor”. That in itself is old news. What is the connection between my participation in this reality-show and the movie “Yes Man” featuring Jim Carrey? The mind behind this decision is still current business.
There was in fact a “direct link” between the movie and the TV-series – for me, at least. No, not because I was hunting a man looking like Jim Carrey hoping the Bachelor would be his spitting image – with elastic facial expressions and wild bodily movements.
A friend of mine and me sat down for a beer and evaluated our situation thoroughly after having seen “Yes Man”, and we got inspired to be more impulsive and say “yes” whenever something exciting came along – instead of giving each opportunity in life the female round of detailed analysis and probably ending up saying “no”. Jim Carrey portrays a guy who isolates himself, is afraid of most things, and ultimately is quite unhappy with himself. Coincidence leads him to a kind of “religious awakening meeting” where “yes man” it the motto. Afterwards he is unable to say “no” to any of the things that cross his path. When saying “yes” to absolutely everything he gets drawn into unexpected chaos, but this way he also meets the love of his life.
Luckily my situation (nor my friend’s) was identical to the character’s semi-traumatic life, and even though we were not ready to say yes to anything we concluded that a change would do us good in the “yes-sense”. We entered a pact together: From now on we would be more open and receptible to whatever came along. This applied to possibilities of learning something new, accepting invitations to coffee-dates, going to the cinema instead of getting comfy in the sofa at home alone, travel to new destinations when cheap flights fell into our laps, and more. In short: we were going to be more alive and present in our lives.
The first thing that happened to me after this was getting the offer to be a part of “The Bachelor”, and I said “yes” pretty fast – while thinking of Jim Carrey, “Yes Man” and the pact I made with my friend. I frequently remind myself of our “pact” which somehow seems to have turned a few things around in my life: being more spontaneous and curious has given me the chance to challenge myself in new ways and meet new people I otherwise never would have met. For example, one of my most important collaborators is my stylist who I met in South Africa while shooting “The Bachelor”.
(Press photos by Morten Bendiksen from the television premiere – with the bachelor, and (below) with my ex-boyfriend who was “my date” to the premiere… All good memories)