The magazines sell like hotcakes, spawning speculation and curiosity, driving us ever forward toward that next shiny page. Or we hate gossip magazines but like to talk about our friends' love lives, over the phone, through text messages, chatting away, chat chat chat.
It starts in summer camp, or in the cafeteria. Lunch lines and notes in class, long glances that turn into staring contests, trying not to loo and then looking anyway, getting your friend to tell him and then getting his friend to tell you...we love gossip and we generate it continually, giving each other reasons to talk and listen.
Something about hearing about someone else's thoughts gets our juices going and, if those thoughts are about us, it's almost too good to be true. Of course if they're negative thoughts it doesn't feel good, but it hooks us nonetheless.
So what is it about gossip that gets our blood pumping and our heart beating faster? Follow this link to learn more about the fascinating qualities of gossip that stir our senses: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26600206
We want to be thought about and we want to try on other people's lives, even if just for a moment. Talking about our thoughts and feelings feels good, real, feels like a connection.
The danger of gossip, of course, is that it feels so good it can exclude the truth at times. How m uch are we willing to elaborate in order to gain acceptance or manipulate a social situation to our advantage? So, while gossip may enliven our lives and get our thoughts racing and our blodd flowing, we must remember to use caution, wisdom, spell check and editing, too.
Aimee Boyle is a freelance writer and teacher on the beautiful shoreline of CT