Whenever I go to the dentist, or as today for a mini-surgery, I notice how drama is all in the mind. The body is fine, as far as I can tell, and there are hardly any sensations at all. But the mind cooks up a range of stories, take them as (more or less) real, and create a drama. (In this situation, a minor one, which makes it more easy to explore.)
When I ask myself, what do I have to let go of for finding peace with the situation, what comes up is the drama itself. I have to let go of the belief that drama is needed for change, that drama is needed for taking care of life, and in this case, this human self.
It is a deeply ingrained pattern: drama=protection. And it goes all the way to that core identity of a separate self.
A belief in a separate self creates a sense of drama, and somehow, somewhere along the way, there is that other belief that drama equals taking care of life. That drama is needed to take care of life. That drama is how we take care of life.
The mechanics behind it is quite simple.
There is a belief in the idea of a separate self, an I with an Other, which awareness and its content is filtered through. Then, beliefs which flesh out the identity of this separate self, what it is and is not and how it is different from, and separate from, the wider world.
Then, situations which threatens or can enhance this separate self or its identities, which creates aversion and attraction.
And right there, drama.
And actions to get what may enhance this separate self, and avoid what may threaten it.
So there is drama+action, and then the following belief that drama is needed for action.
Which, when we look at it, turns out to not be quite accurate. It is not an absolute truth, and there is a good deal of truth in its turnaround: drama is not needed to protect life.
In my own life, I find it throughout my day. I get up, drink water, go to the bathroom, eat, put on clothes, and in general do a wide range of activities to make sure this human self is doing well, and – when appropriate – the same for others. No drama is needed for any of that, and not even the decisions to go to the dentist or doctor when that is called for. It is just what comes up to do.
In the bigger picture, I find examples of people who are very active in the world, and gets things done, with apparently little drama.
And maybe more to the point: when I do The Work, I see that the clarity on the other side of beliefs is what allows things to happen with more ease, and even more effectively. Conversely, I see that sometimes drama goes before action (although that action, if it made sense, would most likely have happened from clarity as well), but equally as often, drama only brings contraction and confusion which can lead to rash actions or even a holding back when action would have been more appropriate.
From the clarity on the other side of beliefs, actions happen on their own, without the interference of the drama of beliefs. And, although it is beyond any ideas of appropriate or not appropriate, these actions often appear as appropriate to the situation, coming from ease and clarity. And when they don’t appear appropriate, there is the receptivity to learn from it.