How does one indulge in the delicacies of madness without succumbing to the incessant jabbering of neurosis? To dabble in the chaos without losing sight of order is a fine balance of passion and analysis, the existence of which many fail to perceive. It can be deduced that if one were to find this balance, one might be privy to the secrets of the universe only briefly felt by passion and to which analysis is entirely blind.
Perhaps it is by design that we are kept within the confines of our seemingly structured society. For instance, does the cow question its enclosure, or is it perfectly content with its limited relationship with the earth provided by its captor? Are we similarly content with our limited access to the inner workings of reality, access regulated by those who sit high above us like a child playing with ants? What if we were to push and prod the curtains draped before our minds? Such curiosity has often led to discoveries…discoveries which, when met with the iron fist that forges our chains, have brought calamity and suffering to those who have seen beyond the veil.
Why, then, do countless others continue this pilgrimage? Are they, too, driven by the same persistent itch, one that cannot be sedated by delusion, only sated by the truth? For those of us who seek to understand, the reasons provided from the hands that feed us only keep us hungering. Their stagecraft no longer entertains our minds. We know there is more that we do not know, which only the mad can hope to find. An answer lingers just behind the cardboard cutouts and paper money – a subterfuge that has long since run its course.
Let us pull up a chair for madness to join us at the table. We cannot rely on the fabricated sanity of yesterday, for sanity is self-serving. Sanity draws lines in the sand to keep us in accordance with its narrow view of reality, and yet imprisons itself. Sanity fears chaos and hides from truth, thus blinding itself to the inevitable. Sanity keeps us content with our servitude to those who feed on fear and thrive on cowardice.
It is madness that walks with eyes wide open and head held high, casting aside the chains of ignorance and convenience. Madness questions everything we have been taught, and honors that which we are told to fear. Madness frees the mind from the bonds of a mundane material existence, in favor of enlightenment and spiritual elation.
However, while sanity is self-serving, madness is self-consuming. One cannot sail into the untamable storm of madness without a stable connection to the steadfast will of sanity. Many poor souls have lost their heading amidst the chaos of an untethered mind, never again finding peace or clarity. Great though the risk may be, the reward is far greater. To stare into the darkness and see the face of God lends more hope and courage and understanding than any light could provide.
How does one accomplish such a feat, one might ask? The answer lies hidden in another age-old question: what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?