Throughout the course of my life, so far, I have been told the classic line "Quit being so dramatic." a few thousand times. If you were to meet me today, you would think the exact opposite. I am the very opposite of dramatic. In fact, often times when I tell people I am a theater major, they laugh. The chuckle is always followed up with "You? No way!". Now if you have know me since I was about 2 you would not be surprised that I am a theater major. I was a very eccentric little girl, I was always playing pretend, telling some outrageous story that was in no way true or forcing my older brother to be in a "play" with me and then we would promptly perform if for our parents. I had a very strong urge to be seen when I was younger, I was loud, over the top, and flat out obnoxious. Oh and if I didn't like something I would be sure to show it. See? Dramatic. Now, bare with me for a second, i'm going to make the argument that my dramatic behavior was not entirely my fault. It was hardwired into me and my circumstanced just happened to bring out the dramatic in me, all the time.
Ever since I can remember I've been performing or (when I was little) pretending (although I could have gotten an Oscar or something for playing house, my stories were surprisingly intricate and realistic, i'm just saying). I was either on stage at church or performing for my family or in a play. I just couldn't stop, I had this need to perform and if i'm honest, I still do. That was one factor that had a hand in my 'over dramatic' behavior.
Another aspect is i'm the youngest, now before you say "Oh, that makes sense." and shake your head and roll your eyes as I know you would, hear me out. I am the youngest of 6, yes 6 kids. Not only am I the youngest of 6, but we are spread out through 18 years. For example, I am 18 now, so my oldest brother is 36 the next one is 34 then 32 then 26 then 21. I know your probably thinking, "so what's the problem?" well i'll tell you. Ever since I was a baby I got a lot of attention, then as I got older I figured out this amazing thing that happens. I figured out 1. that I was cute and 2. I had older siblings and so I was born into a family that could be a great audience. I had a captive audience from the start. See my problem?
In all seriousness, I was a very dramatic little girl and yes probably overly so. I often felt over looked or like I was being left behind and the only way to stop my fears from becoming reality would be for me to be noticeable. I wanted it to be quite when I wasn't there (this comes from me being left at church one time, true story). I wanted my family to feel like an important piece was missing when I wasn't around. Yes, my dramatic side has been a tremendous help in my ability to and love for acting, but it was always so much more than that. My siblings all left me behind, growing up there was always someone moving our or going off to college, getting jobs, getting married, starting their life. I felt overlooked because there was always something more exciting going on, so I had to be exciting, I had to be intricate and fascinating. I had to capture there attention and make them want to talk to me and stay in my life, I had to be a star of their world. As I've grown up I've come to realize that I don't need to be dramatic to be noticeable. I was made for a purpose and that in itself is noticeable.
