Turn Left Moments

Recently I went to Toronto ComiCon, in my blog post about it I wrote that in “some ways this feels like a ‘Turn Left’ moment for me”. In this post I want to explore further what I meant by that.

In 2008 there was a Doctor Who episode called Turn Left. The episode explored what would have happened if Donna Nobel had turned right instead of left and never met the Doctor, the answer was that things would have worked out a lot worse for everyone. In my opinion it is a seriously underrated episode, very powerful and very emotional.

The basic concept of the episode is essentially that a single moment can change things for a person, that concept has resonated with me for years. Maybe not everyone would agree but I think that there are moments in our lives that change things for us. I sort of think of these as Turn Left moments.

So what are some of these moments for me? Well…

2005 – Watching Rose

·         On Saturday 26th March the first episode of the new series of Doctor Who aired, I watched it, and 13 years later I am still a Whovian. I honestly cannot stress enough what an enormous impact Doctor Who has had on me. Genuinely it has changed my life.

2012 – Starting to Write Fan Fiction

·         I suspect most people might be a little bit embarrassed to admit that they used to write Fan Fiction, I’m not. Writing Fan Fic was the first time I ever really wrote something for myself, and the first time I wrote for fun. Essentially because I was a Fan Fic writer I discovered that not only do I enjoy writing but I’m also pretty good at it. I wouldn’t have chosen the degree I am doing if I hadn’t found that love of writing through my Fan Fic experience.

2012 – Going to Disneyland Paris for the First Time

·         I think a lot of people assume that I have been a massive Disney fan for years and I grew up with the movies I love today. That’s not actually the case. It was a trip to Disneyland Paris in 2012 that really awoke my love of Disney. It is because of that trip that I am Disnerd. This trip also influenced me in another way in that it was responsible for me beginning to get into keeping a scrapbook.

2013 – Grant Gustin is the Flash

·         I bet a lot of people assume I have been a superhero fan for years and years but actually, as with Disney, it is a lot more recently than you’d probably expect. Really it all begun with Grant Gustin being cast as Barry Allen in The Flash. I was already a big fan of Grant from his role on Glee and so when he was cast as the Flash I knew I had to watch the series to see more of him. But getting into the series had another consequence, I got seriously into superheroes!

2016 – I Bought a Tiana Doll

·        Just one doll isn’t going to make that big a difference is it? I was so wrong! One Saturday in February 2016 I bought a Tiana doll, as you probably know Tiana is my favourite Disney Princess. A few months later I decided maybe I should buy dolls of the other Disney Princesses that I really love, but only a few of them. From there it just grew and grew. My love of dolls also developed into making clothes for them and rooms for them to be displayed in. As of March 2018 I currently own 38 dolls!

2018 – Toronto ComiCon?

·         Maybe it’s too early to say right now, but Toronto ComiCon sort of feels like it’s the next of these Turn Left moments in my life. I had such a good time and now I really want to go to more conventions. I also want to get more into cosplaying because it was a lot of fun.