Yes/No? Either/Or? Black/White? Good/Bad? Right/Wrong?
No, no, no.
Why should there be only two alternatives? We box ourselves in with this restrictive habit of thinking.
“There are two sides to every story” – Wrong! There are MANY sides to every story.
Do you envy those who see only in black and white? Decisions are easy for them. But they miss so much.
True, they will never end up in this place. This place is for those who see an infinity of meanings in “good morning”: Is the morning REALLY good? Good for who? You? Me? The human race? And anyway, what is “good”? That which is good for you might not be good for me. Are you saying the morning IS good? Or are you wishing that I have a good morning? In the latter case, why restrict your good wishes to the first part of the day – what about the afternoon? Don’t you CARE what sort of an afternoon I have?
Yes, you can go too far the other way. Perhaps that is what the “black/white” lot are afraid of: afraid to explore meaning; afraid to open up their minds to “dangerous” ideas, their hearts to “dangerous” emotions; afraid of tipping over the edge, into madness.
But when you ARE mad, there is nothing to be afraid of. The mind has already burst its boundaries; it can fly.
Dory Previn expresses something of what I mean:
"I have flown to star-stained heights
On bent and battered wings"
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
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2 comments:
Is it your questions that box you in, or the answers? Which is worse to know, the answers, or the questions that brought you there? Is it madness to want to know how to fly, or madness to take the first step and not know if you will fly or plummet?
As a raving bipolar I can identify with the many sided coin. There are times, I think, when my "illness" threatens to carry me away. Now me, I'm lucky to have a friend who sometimes helps me to understand that I don't have to be defined by my illness. (I say "sometimes" because sometimes the thought patterns of the illness are too strong even for him.) Of course, I don't get to define it, either. He helps me to see that we can live (kind of) in harmony together. You need a friend like that, my dear George. I certainly hope you find one.
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