Whether you're a fan or not, most people know what "Supernatural" is, and they know that it seems to be the show that "never dies," just like the majority of its characters. However, just a few days ago, it was announced that the show's next season, season fifteen, would be its last. Unfortunately, I'm too young to say that this show has been part of my life for fourteen, going on fifteen, years, but it has been a part of many people's lives for well over a decade. Even though I'm more of a newcomer to the show, its near-end has hit home, because this is a show the helps people escape reality, makes days better, and teaches you a heck of a lot. Here are fifteen things "Supernatural" has taught me, as it comes to a fifteen-season close.
1. Never Leave Family Behind
Family — the entire premise of this show, not monsters (surprisingly). From the moment I saw Dean and Sam unite to find their father in season one, I began to learn a very important lesson over the next fourteen seasons. Family is number one, so don't forget about them, don't leave them behind. Even if you go to Stanford, and get an S.O., and keep your past life a secret...
2. Family Doesn't End in Blood
As the show comes to a close, there aren't many original characters left. Including Sam and Dean's father, who they spent the entire first season searching for. But they have befriended numerous people, most famously Castiel and Bobby, who have become their family even though they're not blood. I learned that if there are people in your life who care about you with all of their hearts but aren't blood, they're still family.
3. Trust Your Family
This show has taught me a lot about the importance of family, especially trusting them. If you don't trust the family, the people who love you most, you aren't going to make it very far. Any lapse the brothers ever had in their trust of each other usually ended up in failure. It proves quite difficult to succeed completely alone in life; you have to let yourself trust someone, at least one person because even if you're not fighting monsters, you have your own tough battles to face. And no one wants to do that alone.
4. Don't Take Anything for Granted
Sam and Dean Winchester have lost a lot of people that meant everything to them. And while they clearly loved those people with all their hearts, sometimes they got so caught up in their messy lives that they struggled to show it, forgoing time spent with those people before losing them. Including one another.
5. It Is OK to Grieve
Besides family, death is a much more melancholy, common theme within this show. As mentioned before, the brothers have lost a lot of people, including each other. And even they struggle with how to handle the grief. Even the two brothers themselves handle it differently. But they never forgo grieving, they never hide it. Halfway through binging this show on Netflix, I lost someone very important in my life. And if it wasn't for this show, I may not have had the courage to show my grief, to struggle with my grief, to deal with it the best I could.
6. No One is Truly Gone
Although this lesson may take a different meaning within the show, like a character dying in the season finale and being alive in the next season premiere or helping the ghost of your passed friend or family member move on, it holds onto the idea that no one is truly gone. For me, I learned that the souls I lost are forever with me — in my heart, watching down on me, guardian angels.
7. Don't Hold a Grudge, Especially with the People You Love Most
I've never been a big grudge-holder. Some people can go years. However, I'd be lying if I said I've never gone to sleep angered at someone. This show taught me that no matter how sticky the situation, no matter how angering and heartbreaking if you truly love the soul and can forgive them, do it. Our world might not be quite like the "Supernatural" world, but it is messy and dangerous, and it's important to not stop loving the people that love you — even if they break their deals with reapers!
8. Don't Give Up on the People You Love
Sam Winchester has sided with a demon, Dean Winchester has become a demon, Sam Winchester has lost his soul, Dean Winchester died a hundred times in a row... the point is, they've been in some rough situations, and it took a lot of work to save each other from them. But neither gave up until everything was OK again. So maybe someone you love hasn't literally lost their soul, but their soul desperately needs to find its way home or maybe they just don't feel like themselves lately. Just don't give up on them; "Supernatural" has taught me to be there until everything is ok again.
9. It is OK to Feel Sad
Even on the show, the brothers try to hide their sadness, their pain. Because that's what humans do; we think showing our sadness makes us look weak. But eventually, they open up to each other. They prove you can be sad and strong at the same time, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. Because sometimes life throws some gigantic obstacles, or even vampires, your way, and the damage they cause before you can get passed them doesn't always leave you smiling. And that is perfectly OK.
10. Live Life to the Fullest
And even though life hits hard and takes you down sometimes, I learned to never stop trying to live it to the fullest. No matter how much is being thrown at them, they still sit back and eat a slice of pie now and again. This show has taught me there is more to life than what we can see in the present moment, and it is so incredibly short, so it's about time to live it happily.
11. Stand Up For the People You Care About
While "Supernatural" has taught me to never give up on the people I love most, it has also taught me to stand up for them. To understand them. To listen to them. To be loyal to them.
12. Be A Risk Taker
My version of being a risktaker is definitely not going out and hunting that legendary monster no one has ever seen before, or any monster for that matter, but the brothers' constant courage to go new places, do (kind of) new things has taught me to do the same in my life. Although being a risktaker is pretty extraordinary for them, it can be exactly what I need when I apply it to my own life. All it takes is a little bit of bravery.
13. Keep Your Friends Close and Your Enemies Closer
OK, this one is a joke. But the show has proven on multiple occasions that keeping their enemies close has helped them win the game, including Crowley, who proved sometimes your enemies can become your friends. Not really sure how to use this lesson in my life, but couldn't help but notice it's a pretty common theme throughout the show.
14. Be Confident in Your Abilities
Sam and Dean aren't always the most confident people when it comes to how good they are at what they do, especially Dean who often thinks his entire existence is pointless, but when they rise above any and every insecurity they sure know how to win. They prove even the most outrageous feats can succeed with just a little confidence.
15. Never Forget to Laugh
Laughter is definitely not something that is commonly seen within the show but that very reason is precisely why when it is you see its power. From "Supernatural," I have learned that no matter what you're going through, if you can just find one little moment to laugh about, your entire world can be changed. If just for a moment.
