These 2 In The Joshua Tree
So Carrie, Samantha, and Miranda adjacents went on a girls' trip. Lethal, I know. The repeat song? Other than "Heroes" by David Bowie being requested and then told to be held off for the perfect nature setting every 20 minutes, it was "I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For" by U2. Pretty much perfect as Carrie and Miranda, who sat in the front of the convertible, spent the first hour and a half (at least what it felt like to Samantha) discussing the fact that coming into the 20-something world essentially means we need a husband like yesterday.
Now, while that statement is absurd but was definitely said, there is this sensation of many of the great love stories we hear from parents or loved ones being about the high school sweethearts and college matchmakers. After that, where do people meet? At work—oh my god, stop. So while Miranda and I broke down psychology and feared whether we are just going to keep finding men that feel like home because they mimic the trauma, or if there is one or many soulmates, Samantha kindly told us to shut the fuck up and grounded us with love.
This is where the music turned on, and through belting our hearts out, we practically spawned to Joshua Tree. The first time "I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For" came on as we were driving into the park for sunset, that uneasy time tick was unearthed within me. I realized as much as I feel like I have conquered and figured out about myself, about life, some things like love still seem very hard. Like, what do you mean I can be as blind as Carrie and hopelessly romantic while simultaneously wondering how the hell the man I pick in the next decade is going to grow at the same rate and ways for the rest of life as me?
But you know, the song changes. "Lover, You Should’ve Come Over" is on, and just like that, nothing is ever over. So the trip goes on. We dance under the stars because Oasis reminds us they fade away. We turn on my flimsy TikTok Shop projector and watch the only movie it will play: 21 Jump Street, of course, and laugh like we are the funniest people on earth. We return to the park the next day and go with the wind, stopping to hike wherever we feel.
Proud side note: In this world where Miranda and Samantha meet later on through Carrie, nostalgic Carrie is over the moon at how beautiful growing up and growing into ourselves is as our friends just friend without having to do the painful introductions. Through this magic, we literally were in sync the whole trip—not just music-taste wise, although insanely important. After acting like idiots and singing Wicked off the top of the rocks, we get to a new spot and collectively sit silently until, and I’m not even kidding, we all say, "Should we go?" in unison.
While sitting and taking in the surroundings, I found myself humming U2 and wondering what it is I am truly looking for that I don't feel I already have. This thought stuck with me until arriving home and making a new playlist because I can’t be around Samantha without developing an entirely lighter, freer outlook on life that lives through music. Ironically, the song "I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For" comes from the album The Joshua Tree. And staring at the album cover, I laugh because right below is the artist’s name, U2, reminding me, in the most final episode of Sex and the City way ever: I have found these 2 soulmates.
While I may not have met my husband yesterday or had the next 10 years laid out for me, I wouldn’t watch a show where the plot twists, characters, and events have already been disclosed to me in detail.
However, I sure as hell would’ve paid for a tape of the conversations, laughs, stupidity, blissful ignorance, unapologetic living, and the love shared between a girl and her 2 soul sisters in the Joshua Tree.