Carl Gustav Jung once said, "Show me a sane man and I will cure him for you." There is a fine line between the sane and insane. In the dictionary it says the definition of insanity is the derangement and the relatively permanent disorder of the mind. I believe it is part of everyday life. Insanity is something we can taste, see, and smell. It is all around us and part of our daily lives. Why be afraid of insanity? Why not embrace it? Why not discuss its origin, many examples, and describe it casually with your companions in a coffee shop?
The origin of the word insanity slips over most people’s lips sourly. The word leaves such a distasteful taste in their mouths that they have to take a drink of water to dispose of the uncomfortable favor. But I say the word proudly and with confidence. It is such a sweet taste that I discard water for the fear that it will rid me of insanity’s tasteful tang. Insanity originates from all of us. It is in between the lines of everything we write and hidden behind every letter we conjoin to make a word. The word originates from the screams of those who first entered the depressing walls of the very first asylum. Many of the “medicines” thought to cure those who had the “insanity” consisted of ripping the devil from their very bodies. If you have ever known someone possessed by the devil or have been possessed by him yourself then you know how hard it is to get rid of him. Most of the ideas thought of consisted of very, very painful procedures (for the devil deserves nothing less than the most painful procedures). One procedure consists of the following; one: the most precise restraint of a patient’s every move ever devised. Two: a broad attached to the back of a chair so as to fall according to the height of the patient. Three: a wooden box lined with linen so the patient cannot move his/her head in any which way. Four and five: a chest, arm, leg, and belly bands confine and limit the movement of the body. Six: a water bucket placed behind the chair as to not disturb the patient. This treatment was placed upon a patient so as to restrict a patient and leave them broken.
Many people have said to have been placed in asylums for many difference reasons. My father is one of them. I do not have the information to of why he was sent to such an inhumane place. But I have required a very interesting story on his cell mate. One evening, after being returned to their cell, my father’s cell mate proceeded to the human waste facility and proceeded to attend to his business. After which, he retrieved his human waste and proceeded to write on the walls with his waste. Another interesting story is one I found on a Mr. Otto Herrarte. Now this young man was accused of murdering his wife and fourteen year-old son. When relatives were asked about what his motive would be on doing this they said Otto wanted to dispose of his wife to continue an affair with one of his fellow workers. However, when Otto was called upon on what his motive was he claimed to have an alternate ego that took over his body. Herrarte’s alternate ego was named Roberto was accused of slitting Otto’s family’s throats and Otto hid the bodies. They seem to be partners in crime.
Insanity is not just padded rooms and strait jackets. Insanity is when the weather decides to play with our feeble minds and makes it rain when it is clearly sunny. Who says insanity cannot be beautiful? Another example of insanity is giant crabs the size of trash cans. Another is the Glory Hole that resides in a man-made lake. Insanity is waking up in the morning to find your love one dead by your side or waiting in a Wal-Mart line for one hour, forty-five minutes, thirty-two seconds and counting. Insanity is going to school every day to end up on your death bed at the age of twenty-two from strange new illness. Insanity is the government that hides area fifty-one from us for a reason unknown to the lonely, medium-wage, peasants of the world. Insanity is the unconceivable prospect as to why we all can not just get along if five year-olds in kindergarten can.
Insanity is more than just being sent away to merciless, disgusting pig pens with walls and electric gates. Insanity is watching a train crash on the television or going through three boxes of cereal to find the prized, five-cent collector’s toy. It smells like rotten roses and old books. It tastes like cheese and rubber. It sounds like a mower running over a flip-flop and the unlatching of an alarmed door. Insanity is part of our everyday lives and without it we would be nothing or we would be better people. I will let you decide.