Finishing a project

Yesterday, I finished a series that has come to mean a lot to me. This summer, I decided to rewatch The Office and was reminded just how much I adore Mindy Kaling. Then, I remembered she created her own show, The Mindy Project. I decided to give it a shot.

Much like the title character Mindy Lahiri, I'm a huge fan of romantic comedies and always have been. This show quickly drew me in because of its approach to rom-coms — at times predictable but at times unconventional. The Mindy Project likes to comfort you with rom-com expectancies, then spin you around and leave you surprised. Above all else, this show made me love Mindy, both the character and the actress, even when I didn't love the plot line. Not to mention, the series had more than a few celebrity guest appearances to up the fun.

What really kept me hooked on this show wasn't so much the romance aspect as it was the "project" itself. At the beginning of the series, it seemed like Mindy's titular Project was to find her happy rom-com ending. As the show went on, I realized it really seemed that her project was to find herself, as cliché as that might sound. She says in the series pilot, "Who I have been is not who I'm going to be." She really proves that. But even before her character growth, over the course of the show Mindy can always be known to be true to herself and driven by her professional goals.

As a young professional passionate about authenticity, this core part of her character really spoke to me.

The Mindy Project wasn't always a perfect show, but my girl Mindy Kaling knew how to pull at my heartstrings. In a singular episode, she could make me tear up to an upbeat Jason Derulo song as well as feel totally empowered to take on the world and achieve my goals.

I'm sad that I have no new episodes to watch. That's always the hardest part of finishing a show or a book — you have to say goodbye to the characters you've loved getting to know. But I find peace in knowing that I can continue to watch this iconic, bold woman and her fantastic cast on The Mindy Project any time I want to repeat an episode and relive how the show originally made me feel.

And you can bet I plan to get a copy of her book(s).

As the beloved title character Mindy Lahiri said, "I just feel very motivated and tomorrow is going to be very different."