Drama, My Love

“I want to feel passion, I want to feel pain. I want to weep at the sound of your name. Come make me laugh, come make me cry…just make me feel alive” ~ Joey Lauren Adams

Sometimes I don’t think we realize how much we enjoy drama – even those of us who claim to denounce it completely.

As I scanned through a weather site, yesterday, I was surprised at my disappointment when I read that the 2009 Hurricane forecast predicts a quiet tropical season. For those of us who enjoy a good storm, the hurricane season can be quite exciting – those who love sports can probably appreciate the anticipation. As I got to think of it, however, something else popped into my mind: quite often the expectation of something that powerful goes hand in hand with another strong feeling –apprehension. We love and fear at the same time, and the two mix together in an intoxicating cocktail that speeds the heart and inebriates the mind.

We live to experience thrills – a fast car, a heart-stopping ride at the fair, a good thriller on TV, a dangerous storm – because through it all we feel alive.

Love for drama is evident in everything that surrounds us, from the entertainment we choose, to the choices we make in life. Indeed living a life free of drama is possible, but it gets boring pretty fast. Staring at the crystal-clear water of a shallow pool is pleasant for a while, but it doesn’t take long before one craves the dangerous waves produced by a storm at sea.

Very few things create an electrical charge the way drama does. Through our connection with others we activate energetic extremes – positive and negative, both necessary to initiate a shock. We love some deeply and “hate” others with just as much passion; once the two charges meet they create a current that keeps us alive.

Even if many of us will never own up to it, we welcome drama in our lives. We fear it, as it often turns our lives upside down, and then love it, as it allows us to appreciate certain things we wouldn’t notice otherwise.

Drama is the earthly force that keeps us anchored to our human role. As unsettling as it is, it serves a purpose if taken in small doses, for without its powerful influence we would easily skip over many of the lessons our soul needs to learn.

Just like any film, or soap opera worth its salt, we have the power to end it just by switching the channel of our focus. And we never have to worry about losing the remote.