#peter<3

Watching Peter play a genuine kid with heart in him fall into the wrong place was masterful. And watching Mike play a more encouraging and supportive character for the other three, like reassuring Micky is fine after one of his jokes in court or assuring Peter that he can play the harp no matter what, felt like he was interacting with the audience. We were meant to be looking up to Mike.

Making the song “salesman” play in the background of hell, sounding like a “sinman.” When are you gonna sin again?

And HOW could I forget. Not only do all of the Monkees fight to keep Peter, but Davy goes as far as to try to make a new deal with THE LITERAL DEVIL to take him instead? Unprompted. Immediate.

“Why can’t you young people just accept the devil and be done with it?”

One of my new favorite monkee quotes ever, also furthering to portray the Monkees and Peter in particular as young adults- the next generation. What was the younger generation doing in this time? They were rioting, they were preaching civil rights and fighting for stonewall.

So they ask; Why can’t young people accept there’s evil out there? Why do they insist on resisting it? Even when they directly encounter it?

And Micheal answers the question in the end during his monologue:

“The power of that love was inside of Peter…. It was that kind of power that made Peter able to play the harp, you didn’t have anything to do with it at all…. Don’t you understand?.. if you love music, man, you can play music… all it takes is just love, because baby, in the final analysis,

Love is power.”

And Peter loved the harp. And the Monkees loved him. They refused to accept the cruelty represented by the devil and chose to follow their love instead, and in fact, prove that love is a naturally occurring power that everyone is capable of. So if you love music, you can play music like them. If you are capable of loving, then you are capable of fighting for it.

Love really is understanding :)

I love when pictures actually represent the actual emotions that occurred in the moment and day.

We cheese so hard that our gums and silliness are showing. We also hit golden hour and it was beautiful to see it at Pacifica!

This relationship has and continues to teach me a lot about my partner, myself, relationship dynamics, and values. I would not have picked a better person to learn with! So here are 5 (there's a theme here) things I have learned.

Peter has really accelerated the truth seeking side of me. He asks a lot of questions that sometimes I am not ready to face and answer. Whether it is religion, culture, and traditions, he pushes me to discover more about the values I was raised with and whether they still serve a purpose in my life. I definitely had a hard time in the beginning because it shook my core, but it definitely has helped me with my transformational phase in life!

A supportive community helps the relationship. I am really thankful to have my friends and family who are supportive of my relationship. My friends are supporters through the highs and lows. Despite the lows in relationships, my friends are willing to sit with me and practice mindfulness and compassion. Not only are they hearing my perspective, we always make sure we make space for Peter's perspective too. I am not a huge fan of one sided stories so I do what I can to provide Peter's side to pain the full picture. The goal is to grow and learn. The goal is to gain better tools and insights to make Peter and I, a stronger team.

Our relationship dynamic has its own uniqueness! From the way we reassure each other to how we grow together. Peter and I have seen each others patterns (the great and not so great). I can't speak for Peter, but I have showed him my lowest and it definitely impacted our relationship. It made me realize the importance of boundaries and what really mattered to me in relationships and in my life. These lows pushed me to prioritize taking care myself and also protecting the relationship. Peter is really great at supporting me and I hope continue to be the best supporter for him in the way he needs and wants to be supported.

Our differences actually keeps us together. I am taking back the word "different" and embracing it to the fullest. When Peter and I made our relationship public, it definitely impacted us. Our mutual friends' first reaction was " Oh they are different", and expressed a lot of skepticism. It's not that Peter and I are the opposites (referencing opposites attract), but differences actually brings more to the table/relationship. Learning and maintaining interests in a partner and seeing them as who they are brings curiosity. It brings a lot of teamwork and effort in the relationship which leads to commitment in each other and to ourselves as individuals. This is a way for us to grow in ways we may have not expected to grow if we were not together.

Awkwardly enough, I actually think Peter and I have a lot in common. Peter is actually the first person I was 100% myself with and that was truly difficult for me to do at the age of 20/21. Despite him not being a huge fan of himself around that time (sad boi phase), I really appreciated him as a person. Even though there were patterns he and our mutual friends have noticed in him, I still appreciated all that he was at that time. He was perfectly imperfect <3. I think it's because he was just himself despite others opinions. He was strong in that way and it inspired me to let my walls down and just be myself. It felt safe to be myself. How and who he was was how I felt connected with him. We can understand each other's feelings, but the way we react to our feelings can be different. Even in the present, Peter shows me what he desires and his motives in life. Although I may not always align with the way he approaches his motives, the feelings he desires is when I feel connected to him the most.