Other People’s Drama

Once, while working as a marketing director for a non-profit, I decided I would one day write a one-hour T.V. program called “Other People’s Drama.”

It would focus on the lives of a group of people who work in a volunteer organization and the way the drama of daily life can infect everything a group does. I figured it to be a wonderfully cathartic experience because, surprise, I don’t like other people’s drama finding its way into my life.

But I have a legitimate reason: everything I do as a writer — both professionally and artistically — takes place on one square foot of real estate. It’s all in my head. And when it all is said and done, at the end of the day, when things get into my head and invade my thought processes, it mucks things up. Writing — both of the journalistic and the artistic — suffers.

I’ve talked about this phenomenon with some of my friends, some artists, some not, and we all agree. When the drama of daily life for people outside your head gets in your head, it can upset the delicate balances that make this thing called “living” comfortable. While I believe some discomfort should be allowed for, the kind that brings your life to a screeching halt should not.

So, as we embark on the summer and the days grow longer, let’s all strive to get along, to avoid the anger and the bitterness, and maybe, just maybe, one day we’ll all come out on the other side unscathed.

Then again, maybe not.

Happy summer. Hope you like the new site.