Dropping Drama on Its Head

I've learned something from a friend of mine - a lesson I wish I'd have developed a long time ago, but at a far lesser degree than he's developed it.

The lesson is to reject drama as much as possible. Because he is a very serene person most of the time, I've taken some of his advice and begun to observe just how much drama most of us tend to either live with or absorb from those around us. His theory is that in his line of work, he listens to other people's drama all day long; he gets paid quite well to listen to it during office hours.

But, step out of the office and he's done with drama. In fact, his exact phraseology is "If you can't f*** it or bank it, who needs it?" As he's an extremely wealthy guy, and he certainly seems to get laid often, he might be onto something.

At any rate, I've been so self-absorbed with my own internal pain/drama, that I have really began to notice when drama, in whatever form, enters my life.

I'm finding that I don't care overmuch for either mine, or the drama of others. Now, I'm not talking about refusing to listen to what's going on in my friends' lives - I still want to hear what's going on in their minds and hearts, but what I don't miss is the hysterical ravings of people who are almost out of control. There's a certain note that seems to hit when the drama reaches a certain level. It's partly "whine", it's partly angst, it's partly a demand to be listened to.

Note I said, "demand". It's that, I believe, that gets to me the most. It's that insisting, that get-in-someone's-face attitude that the speaker MUST BE LISTENED TO RIGHT NOW! Nothing is more important than they are!

It comes, I believe, in part, from being surrounded with instant communication all the time. We hear very little on the news that's not some form of drama. Even something with a happy ending has to have a dramatic beginning, or else it's not hyped up. There are no simple pleasures left in life, it seems.

People seem to want a quick fix, an immediate solution. No longer are we allowed the time to self-reflect, to dive into our own introspection. We *want* immediate gratification. Patience, as a virtue, is nearly non-existent.

I wrote on my Facebook today that I was having the sort of day that made me want to sit down and bawl in utter frustration.

I realized that it was due, in part, to dealing with the drama of everyone else today. Perhaps it's the moon phase or something - regardless, the intensity of the drama was amped up to levels that ended up affecting me personally - and THAT I didn't like.

In other words, I somehow was in the receiving line to get shit at and hit, as one of my relatives used to say. And, I don't appreciate that, because, in the words of my friend, I can't F*** it or bank it. Most of it happened after office hours, too!