Lesson #70: The Power of Addiction

Mea Culpa

I might start by saying .. I’ve been a bit ‘addicted’ to watching this Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard trial. Hearing the ins and outs of another person’s life, and in this case distinctive personas, has been fascinating for me. Seeing a very dysfunctional ‘codependent’ relationship play out via a court case in almost ‘real time’ is quite a ‘meta’ experience .. the actors saying their things, the other accessories to their life, unwittingly actors in this global dissection of one highly dysfunctional relationship between two humans, both impressive in their own right, open to further dissection by every armchair expert in the world.

A story about addiction

The way I see it, and perhaps it’s an amplified message about our current ‘western’ culture in general, is that it is a tale about addiction. Addiction to substances, addiction to people, addiction to ways of escaping the pain of ‘reality’. That’s been my big takeaway.

Maybe this perspective reflects my own personal interests and biases, because I can really relate to some of what has been shared .. or understand at least.

And to sum up for this lesson .. I guess the thing that stands out for me in this public trial, is how much the addictive behaviours played out in their relationship .. and how, played out on the big screen, amplified, these addictions extracted a huge price.

The lesson

I simply called this lesson ‘the power of addiction’ .. and I think that is a lesson in itself, simply acknowledging the ‘power’ of addiction. The roots of the word ‘addiction’ refers to “a giving over, surrender” — and I believe also ‘slave’.

If I look in terms of ‘cosmic balance’ then perhaps this experience of unwilling surrender is a counterbalance to the disproportionate power these individuals were wielding. Or maybe it’s simply the ugly side to addiction, that can destroy our life in exchange for this willing surrender.

I’m ready for sleep so I’ll leave it at that.