Relationship Tips I've Learned from Soaps
By Hillary Fields
Soap operas are my big guilty pleasure. Yes, the acting is melodramatic and the storylines are sometimes so over the top they make the plot twists on "Lost" look logical, but still, there's a lot you can learn from these daytime dramas. Whether it's "General Hospital," "Days of Our Lives," "As the World Turns" or "One Life to Live," I find them absolutely addictive because they reflect (and magnify) our own real-life relationship dramas so perfectly. I record my favorite—"All My Children"—every day and watch it in the evening after I get home from work. Even my husband has (reluctantly) gotten sucked in, sheepishly asking about the doings of one character or another. And why not? They've got it all—looks, wealth, power, romance. And yet, no one in real life could ever be as miserable as these folks.
What have these fictional characters taught me? Well, there are several secrets to relationship happiness I've gleaned from watching daytime TV dramas. Check them out...
Hillary Fields is a New York-based writer, editor, and blogger. She’s authored three romance novels published by St. Martin's Press and has contributed to Cosmopolitan magazine, the Huffington Post, DoubleX.com and Jewcy.com.
Photo credit: ABC/Rick Rowell