Thoughts.com Blogs - Hypothetical Boogeyman...

It hits me, as I am watching one of my favorite movies ( maybe mini-series is a better term... ohh yeah - its called Rose Red, by Stephen King ) that most people like being scared. Not the truest sense of terror, like the phone call from the police or the dark alley and a mugger lying in wait - but "fun" scared, that kind we put ourselves through purposefully. The amusement park, sky diving, watching horror movies, swimming with the sharks... that sort of thing. I love that sensation, almost as much as a good kiss. It is truly electric. Feeling a small wisp of terror curl up off the back of your neck, or having the imagined sensation of spiders dancing across your legs. It is what I would call a "real feeling". Not so much in the sense that it means more then other feelings, but more to the point that we can self inflict this feeling and have success doing it. Some things cannot be controlled, but this sensation is one that we set ourselves up for. We say to ourselves, "Today I am going to drive down to the ocean and slip on my wetsuit. I am then going to get on a boat and we are going to cruise a few miles out to sea and I am going to drop my dumb ass overboard and swim with the "fishes"." What a plan. I mean seriously - what are the chances the one day you decide to go swimming with the "harmless" variety of sharks a few great whites are going to make a guest appearance and want your feet as an Hors d'oeurves?I think I spelled that right. But honestly.... I know it is true for me, and I wonder what actual percent of the population this also serves. ( Not really, really, cause I could figure out some method of obtaining the answer... but you know. )