Conversations With The Universe

I might be crazy, but I think it’s trying to tell me something.

September 16 2025

Each post is paired with a song. For today, it’s Oysters In My Pockets by Royel Otis.

The universe is speaking to me. At least I’d like to think so. There have been some happy coincidences that feel like a cosmic, cheeky wink, or a little pat saying, don’t worry, it’ll be okay. A few weeks ago, I was watching And Just Like That (don’t judge me), and one of the characters quoted a part of Henry David Thoreau’s line: “I wanted to live deep and suck the marrow out of life.” I’ve always liked that line, so it stood out in an otherwise dumb AF episode.

Afterwards, I switched to Hacks (this you should watch) and continued where I had left off. Only a few minutes into the episode, Jean Smart’s character, Deborah, says this about being young: “That's the ultimate luxury... not having to suck the marrow out of every day. Just toss the bones, not even make a soup.” It felt like I was being told something, a special message, just for me - and I felt all warm inside.

A few nights later, I was brain-rotting on TikTok and watched a video about the most inbred royals (again, don’t judge me). Turns out it was Charles II of Spain, and among his many ailments, suffering from grand mal seizures was one of the most debilitating. Not long after, I was finally getting around to watching the latest season of The White Lotus (season 1 remains the best), and lo and behold, Parker Posey’s pill-popping character says, “I thought I was going to have a grand mal seizure,” after feeling overwhelmed by a social outing. Relatable. Not sure what the universe was trying to tell me this time, but still - I clocked it.

The last instance of one-sided cosmic chitchat happened while watching Platonic (Seth Rogen is kinda annoying, but it’s still good), and they played Royel Otis’ song Oysters In My Pocket, a favorite of mine. The next night, we started The Girlfriend (liking it so far), and you guessed it - they played the same song again. So, what I’m getting here is the universe confirming I have good taste in music. Thank you.

All these instances reminded me of a line from the amazing play The Effect by Lucy Prebble, which I watched at the National Theatre in London a couple of years ago. It’s about two people who volunteer in a clinical drug trial, where they start to fall in love. Their relationship ends up throwing the whole thing off course. At one point, Tristan, the male protagonist, says, “I feel holy. Like life is paying attention to me.” And that’s kinda how I felt in these moments - like little old me, in this huge, scary world, mattered. And isn’t that kind of confirmation nice sometimes?