Living with Your Inner Monster

Those who study human behavior note that during economic downturns, our interest in monsters and horror stories increases as a way to relieve the everyday stress.  Think of horror movies in the 20's, 30's and 80's along with the vampire implosion in pop culture over the last 3 or so years.  One of the current shows riding this wave is Being Human, which tells the story of a ghost, a vampire and a werewolf living together and trying to "fit in" in the normal world.    As I watch this show one thought comes to mind- these "monsters" are really no different than you and me trying to make our way and fit into the everyday world too.

Being Human has three main characters:  Annie (the ghost), Mitchell (the vampire) and George (the werewolf) who share a house and try to live normal, quiet lives.  Writers note- for purposes of this post I'm referencing the original BBC series, not the US version currently airing on the SyFy channel.  Now back to our regularly scheduled program....  They each want to go to work, date and have a drink at the corner pub and live like humans, hence the title.   But the nature of what they each are continually hinders them.  How can a ghost live in the world when the ability for humans to see her comes and goes?  How can a vampire live and work amongst humans without giving in to temptation?  How can a werewolf date when he has to take off to the woods every full moon and with no explanation to his girlfriend?  What I find intriguing about this premise is  that Annie, Mitchell and George are no different than you and I.  While we're not literally monsters, we each live with our internal monsters that hinder our ability to get along in the world.

Call it baggage, call it disfunction, call it nueroses- regardless of the label we each have a "monster" inside us that we think keeps us from being a "normal" human.  And at times that monster keeps us from connecting with the world; just like the three roommates on Being Human.  And just like Annie, Mitchell and George, it usually takes one of our own "kind" to see the monster in us.  Alcoholics recognize another alcoholic or addict.  Depressives recognize another depressive.  You get the gist.  Hopefully the others we see are a good or supportive influence on us and together we each help each other on the way.  But like some of the other ghosts, vampires and werewolves that Annie, Mitchell and George run into this isn't always the case.  That's when we should follow the lead of the Being Human monsters and send our fellow monsters in this world packing or cut ourselves off from them.

So what is your internal "monster"?  And how do you live with it each day?  The only thing I know is that for each of us the answer is different and we each have to find our own way to navigate the world as a "normal" human.  We just have to hope that when we find other monsters like ourselves that they're as helpful and supportive to us as Annie, Mitchell and George are to each other.