Observations about “Supermarket” part three: what I took away from it

The first thing I took away from “Supermarket”, though it may not necessarily be what I needed to take away, was that life is not supposed to be taken too seriously. Because look at Flynn, he went insane because he was pressured into finishing a book and earning money. I never want to go insane for my work, though I can see where he’s coming from. And I realized that oftentimes I put myself in such situations where I put so much pressure on myself that I feel as though I’m going to explode, literally. I get tremors, rashes, racing heartbeat out of stress and anxiety. I get insomnia, or whenever I sleep, I experience nightmares. I feel very drained, both socially and academically. I burn out and don’t want to do anything. I don’t ever want it to come to that again. Though it probably will, I believe the important thing is to realize that you’re not okay with that, and promising yourself that you will work towards “it” not coming to “that” again. This was the most major point I took away from “Supermarket”; that there are literally people going crazy for their work, losing two years of their precious lives in mental hospitals which they got into because of stress, a completely mental thing. And I saw myself in Flynn. Perhaps I’ll never experience DID (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/conditions/dissociative-identity-disorder-multiple-personality-disorder) out of stress, but I sure do experience a ton of other things which sometimes make my day-to-day life unbearable. So I will always prioritize myself over my work. This doesn’t mean I’ll turn down opportunities, because I won’t. But I will prioritize myself if I feel as though my work/academics is consuming me.

The second thing I learned is the importance of a support system. There’s this one character in the hospital called Red who helps out Flynn with everything. He has also experienced DID before and so motivates Flynn, as well as helping him out with ways in which he can get rid of Frank, or what will happen if he doesn’t. Without Red, Flynn would not have been able to accomplish several important things that he did during the rest of the novel, and so this made me realize the importance of having a support system, whether it be your family, your friends, your lovers, or just strangers who can relate to what you’re going through. Flynn also has a girlfriend named Mia who stays with him throughout his 2 years in the mental hospital and supports him always. Her existence, though she cannot be with Flynn at all times, also made me realize the importance of knowing you’re being cared for.

The third thing I learned from “Supermarket” is that mental health is no joke. It’s above all else. It’s important to diagnose everything in the earlier stages and to ask for help. For example, if Flynn had just told someone when he first began experiencing panic attacks and series of derealizations, then perhaps he would be diagnosed early on and would not have to waste 2 years of his life in a mental hospital, as well as having the guilt of robbing a store on his consciousness.

The fourth thing I learned is that books are judged by their covers. I never would have bought the book if it weren’t for its interesting cover with nothing but the title of the book. Well, perhaps I would have bought it, but I surely wouldn’t be as intrigued in it as I was in the beginning and would most likely come to the 100th page and so and leave it there because of the negative reviews I read on GoodReads. So if I were to ever write a book, I will definitely make the cover interesting. And second, I’m going to work on not judging books by their covers, since thinking about the fact that I may be missing out on so many beautiful books because of my subconscious tendency to reach for books that have intriguing covers rather than intriguing blurbs makes me so very sad. I also learned that Goodreads reviews, or any reviews for that matter, should be taken that seriously. Whatever works for you, works for you. It’s important to read books until the very end, even if you have read/heard incredibly morbid reviews about them, because that last page, or last paragraph, or last sentence, or last word, of a book, might as well change your perception of life, books and so on.

The fifth and final thing I learned is that artists or people don’t have to be constrained to one thing. This may not seem very relevant to the plot, but I didn’t get it from the plot, I got this simply from the 1 paragraph description about the author Bobby Hall. He’s apparently also a Grammy-nominated, platinum-selling recording artist. And now he’s described as “one of the most creative artists of our generation”. And so this showed me that individuals can be recording artists and writers, and be good at both. And they don’t necessarily have to be pursuing interests that are similar to one another. You can be a ballet/dancer and a physics teacher (this is the case for a physics teacher in my school). You can be a marine biologist by night and teach underprivileged kids by day (inspired by HIMYM). You truly can do anything you wish to do, and this book, in a rather unconvential manner, taught me that.