Anakin: We could keep it a secret...
Padme: We'd be living a lie. I couldn't do that. Could you Ani?

~Attack of the Clones~

Even Jedi are not safe from committing crimes of passion in the heat of the moment. What else, besides greed and power, would make a bright, intelligent, good looking and talented Jedi Knight do irrational and insane things such as falling to the Dark Side, murdering every Jedi known to the Star Wars Universe and attempt to kill his wife and best friend all for the sake of crazy love? Anakin Skywalker's fall to the Dark Side was heart wrenching to watch to say the least, but it is not far from reality.

Reflecting upon the media these past weeks, I can't help but to notice that there are a lot of 'normal, sane' people doing strange things these days. Such as 'irrational, insane' things when it comes to the affairs of the heart. Take for instance the Lisa Nowak story. An astound astronaut, or 'astroNUT'* in this case, a married mother of three children, packed a steel mallet, a 4-in. knife, a BB gun and large trash bags and drove 900 miles in diapers and a disguise with a plan to murder a woman viewed as a romantic rival for a love interest that wasn't even her own husband?* Un-freaking-believable.*

What I find most fascinating about Lisa Nowak's story is the fact that she spit in the face of what was normal, ignored all common sense and lost all control over her personal life all in the name of blinded love. Sound familiar? You bet. Now, I could sit here and blog about all the parallels and similarities between Lisa Nowak and Anakin Skywalker's story; both had to undergo rigorous training and stringent selection procedures to join an elite body in their profession; both had the 'right stuff' and were considered 'top guns' in their profession; both had failing relationships due to the pressurized stress of their jobs; both contemplated murder. With one minor exception: Anakin got away with it, Lisa did not. But I'm not going to go there. What I want to focus on is one main ingredient for falling to the Dark Side when it comes to affairs of the heart, in a recipe currently referred to as 'crazy' love.*

Anakin: If you are suffering as much as I am, please tell me.
Padme: I can't... We can't... It's not possible.
Anakin: Anything is possible, Padme, listen to me.
Padme: No you listen! We live in a real world, come back to it. You're studying to become a Jedi, I'm... I'm a senator. If you follow your thoughts through to conclusion, it will take us to a place we cannot go, regardless of the way we feel about each other.
Anakin: Then you do feel something!
Padme: I will not let you give up your future for me.
Anakin: You're asking me to be rational. That is something that I know I cannot do. Believe me, I wish I could just wish away my feelings, but I can't.

~Attack of the Clones~

Irrational behavior, when it comes to affairs of the heart, always seems to go astray when obsessive thoughts are created from not receiving affections from another or when love goes south of the border for a bad case of Montezuma's Revenge. Everybody has 'dirty little secrets' or 'skeletons in the closet' so to speak. And if you think you don't have any dirty little secrets now? Don't worry, your turn will come someday.

I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I too have 'dirty little secrets' and have done some irrational things when it comes to affairs of the heart. Although, I have to admit, I've never done anything quite like this or suffered from Montezuma's Revenge nor do I ever want to. The strangest feelings that I can recall from those past experiences was that the crazy act I was doing felt so natural, perfectly normal and rational, at that time, in my mind. And nobody could have talked me out of it or told me differently. By the way, don't get any brilliant ideas and try to interrogate me about my dirty little past while I'm at CIV. I simply will turn to you and say "I don't recall" or "I plead the fifth".

What is it that drives good people to do irrational things or exhibit odd behavior all for the sake of crazy love? Is if for the pure adrenaline rush and excitement of the act? What would cause a normal, sane person to unleash their animal instincts for unbridled love and lose all control over any sound judgment or common sense? Do intense affairs of the heart or relationships make us act on hidden impulses that are normally repressed or held back? What I find sad, even more shocking, is when sane people realize that what they are doing is completely wrong and insane, but can't stop themselves. Anakin knew that what he was doing was wrong, yet he did not have the will power to stop himself from contemplating heinous crimes in the heat of passion. Neither did Lisa Nowak.

I am most certain of one simple thing. If any of us had to face Dr. Phil for committing an act of this nature, I'm pretty sure Dr. Phil would tell us to snap out of it, take a chill pill and than proceed to smack us down on live TV. I sure would love to see Dr. Phil do a psycho analysis of Anakin Skywalker. Whew baby, what a fun smack down that would be to watch, eh?

For those interested in reading more about the Lisa Nowak story, here is a link to one of many articles about her grim fate.

One giant step for 'man' kind; one huge step backwards for the 'female' race.

*References:

"Out of this World" ~ People Magazine, February 19, 2007 issue. By Alex Tresniowski, Rose Ellen O'Connor, Jeff Truesdell, Steve Helling, Alicia Dennis, Wendy Grossman and John Perra.

Blog inspired by "Crazy Love" ~ written by Chelsea Badeau, Comcast.net Relationships Editor

"AstroNUT" inspired by M02YP.

"Un-freaking-believable" inspired by Granny-Wan