Following Manchester United is my guilty pleasure. I have less time these days for said guilty pleasure. But I manage to find ways to follow all news closely, watch most highlights, and catch at least a few of the big weekend games.
I was reflecting on this “pleasure” after watching a late loss to Arsenal yesterday. It was a close game – one lost on fine margins. This typically kickstarts a period of “depression.” I stay away (relatively) from watching highlights and/or reading football news until our next win. Then I get excited. And the cycle repeats.
Whenever I think of this cycle, I’m reminded of Derek Sivers’ excellent post about drama after a talk by Kurt Vonnegut.
Vonnegut contrasts the emotional arc of a story like Cinderella…
…or a common disaster story…
…with that of our life.
Derek’s takeaway is profound
Our lives drift along with normal things happening. Some ups, some downs, but nothing to go down in history about. Nothing so fantastic or terrible that it’ll be told for a thousand years.
“But because we grew up surrounded by big dramatic story arcs in books and movies, we think our lives are supposed to be filled with huge ups and downs! So people pretend there is drama where there is none.”
That’s why people invent fights. That’s why we’re drawn to sports. That’s why we act like everything that happens to us is such a big deal.
I’ve thought about this a lot over the years. As time has passed, I’ve appreciated folks who take a “no drama” approach to life. And I think I’ve made progress over the years to that end myself.
Except, of course, when I indulge in my quota of this while watching/following premier league football.
Or maybe because of it?
