It’s 3:57 in the morning and I just finished watching the most viewed daytime television event in history- the wedding of Luke & Laura on General Hospital in 1981.

I’ve never been a soap opera fan but insomnia will make you do strange things. I treated it mainly as a study of an era. I was most interested in observing the clothing, the makeup, the hairstyles, the caliber of acting and the content of the storyline.

After viewing it, I found myself in a dreamlike state as I walked about my house. I could see my pink slippers, the view of my backyard from the kitchen, the lamp beside the livingroom couch- but I was seeing it all through a different lense.

It was as if I was taking mental snapshots for future perusal without meaning to. I was seeing each scene as if I was remembering it later in life. Such an odd experience.

But that’s the gift drama. No matter how far-fetched the storyline, it can make us freeze time, take inventory and recognize the power of the present moment.

A great gift indeed and all thanks to a sleepless night and a soap opera episode I will never view again.