ON ACTING: "Amor fati"; or The love of fate

In psychiatry there is a therapeutic concept called "Amor fati"; literally, "love of fate". The theory behind it is: We bring on the traumas that are necessary for our growth. Therefore, one could argue: the reason we choose to act in the a particular "drama/trauma" is in order to experience (re-experience) the particular emotion--and/or set of emotions--inherent in that scene or character. We immerse ourselves in the "drama/trauma" of the scene to educate ourselves about our own emotions.

Therefore, it could be reasonably said actors are paid to go through their own personal therapeutic "psychodrama" (don't tell the producers)! In effect, we choose or accept scenes and/or roles that can be instrumental in our personal emotional growth: that's what seduces us about a particular character or scene, and makes the role interesting to perform. By acting/living the scene, and the attendant emotions, we draw on the knowledge implicit in ourselves; and we learn, we grow, we gain conscious self-knowledge by that re-iterated personal/dramatic experience.

At core, actors act to discover themselves; they are in love not only simply with themselves (as their critics aver) but most especially with their fate.