It seems to me that people have varying degrees of a need for passion in their lives. No, I don’t mean sex – physical passion – I mean the desire for the ups and downs of emotional life. Some people really seem to enjoy being in situations where they can poke and prod their partners and be treated in kind, and to revel in the emotional upheaval that ensues. Other people are more remote, and treat passion as a necessary stop on a long drive – like a potty break on a road trip – something you do once in a while to refresh yourself, but not a place you stop and stay.

The X was a man of constant public passion. He was never happy unless he was in the middle of some kind of self created turmoil, the center of all attention, nailed on a self imposed angst ridden cross. Trust me when I say that that level of maintenance has a high price indeed. If I look at him dispassionately, I can tell you that his constant focus on passion leaves him unable to focus on anything else in his life. It became exhausting to participate in his roller coaster; after a while one just pulls the emergency brake and gets off the ride.

There are quiet, passionate people. Those who are so unassuming that you know nothing of their lives other than their public façade, until the day you see or hear that one spouse has killed the other, or a mother has slain her children and then herself. There are people who abandon their entire lives and careers and move across the world to feed indigent people in the Sudan.

And there are people who have no control over their passions. People whose every waking moment and though is consumed with whatever they are focused on for the moment. You know, like those nutty people who go ga over the newest online multi player game, and stalk Ebay auctions looking for virtual real estate to build their empire? You know who I talking about. Like the couple who recently made the news – their children were forcibly removed from their home and the parents charged with abuse. The children were starving and living in squalor, while the parents had state of the art technology and were playing some online role playing game.

Again, passion gone awry.

Where do you fall? Who are you?