Virginia Woolfe wrote, “Across the broad continent of a woman’s life falls the shadow of a sword.’ On one side of that sword, she said, there lies convention and tradition and order, where all is correct. But on the other side of that sword, if you’re crazy enough to cross it and choose a life that does not follow convention, ‘all is confusion.’ Nothing follows a regular course.” Her argument was that the crossing of the shadow of that sword may bring a more interesting existence to a woman, but you can bet it will be more perilous.
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The topic of sanity and insanity has been around and interpreted in different ways for ages.
Virginia used the metaphor of a sword’s shadow. I like to use the characters of “Sandman” by Neil Gaiman. The garden of Destiny: where everything is certain, corporeal, tangible, and materialistically rational. It’s easy enough to tread the garden of Destiny: your eyes would be there to guide you.
Beyond the garden of Destiny though, lies darkness… it’s where things that aren’t well understood rest. Delirium is the only one that is able to walk in darkness.
I like to tread the darkness every so often. Sometimes I’m lead or drawn there without even realizing that I am being pulled.
I like to stay in the middle though. You can’t understand the wealth of the light if you don’t allow darkness to swallow you first.
You have to be one and at peace with your own darkness to realize that it wasn’t all that perilous to begin with… It was just perceived peril because few have enough courage to tread it… because it’s human nature to fear those which we don’t understand.
I like to settle between both worlds: it’s the only way I can retain my freedom. Staying in the light without getting to know darkness is oppressive. Staying in the light without getting to know the darkness is living in denial that darkness exists. Staying in darkness and forgetting the light is suffocating. It will eventually push itself unto you and break your will. Staying in darkness with absolute disregard of the light will make you forget how beautiful life is.
If we were to use the human brain as a metaphor for darkness and light, the subconscious would be the darkness and the conscious (cognition) would be the light.
We all have hearts and minds. We should use both.
Using only the mind for reason within everything tangible makes you weak: objectivity with no foundation is a loss of solidarity. Objectivity with no foundation has no internal wealth. Using only the heart is walking through life without protection; it may lead to absolute loss of your sanity along with yourself. The world will rob you, intentionally and unintentionally, of your riches if you only use your heart.
We all have a responsibility to the world to help it change for the better… We all must find a way to live selfishly selfless. If we’re going to look into selfishly expressing ourselves, then it will give us insight of our own energy. Insight is a bumpy road. Insight requires FEELING joy along with pain. Insight lets you experience life to its fullest. Insight lets you LIVE. Insight could give you hope. On that note, I guess I could then argue that your darkness is what it takes to see beauty.
For every roadblock, for every pain, for every DARKNESS therein lies the ways… you just have to find the strength to constantly retain your WILL.
Anyone could drive oneself to absolute madness as a rebellion from the suffocation that exclusive external living tends to do.
I think Virginia Woolf is great. She’s insightful, truthful, and I agree with a lot of the things she says… though she could’ve used a slap in the face.
Read Boolean Philosophy
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Dear Virginia Woolf,
Don’t take yourself too seriously. Life is bootyful.
We’re all crazy anyway.
Constantly searching for my sanity within my insanity,
Gelene
