We are, no doubt about it, the unhappiest species on the face of the earth, and the most fearful. As a child I was informed it was because of all the sinful things we did, but these many years later I am more inclined to think it is the opposite, and that our chronic suffering is more attributable to all the "bad" things we didn't do. In other words, I am inclined to think that my angst, and that of others, is because of what we have repressed. That is the haunting...the misery of those demons of desire who have been locked up in the psyche and continue to make us unhappy until we free them.
If that is the case the solution would seem to be a simple one: release the pent-up energies. Unfortunately there is such a history of fear attached to those buried passions that their release seems the most dangerous thing in the world. They have been "put away" for a reason, and releasing them would be akin to emptying all the prisons at once. If that were to happen they would surely overwhelm the storylines that hold our lives together, and plunge us all into the emotional chaos that the psychiatrists call psychosis. The process of liberation must, it seems, be patient and methodical.
I find it helpful to remember that the passions or instincts themselves are not the earth-destroying energies we see around us. The destructiveness is entirely a function of the repression (or compression) that turns small atoms of passion into atom-bombs of anger.
Is this not what is alluded to symbolically in those stories and myths where the beast is discovered to be quite lovely, and always wants to be known for what it is, and not feared and loathed for being so ugly and scary.
So I guess that's my New Years wish for myself and others, that we will have the courage to welcome the demons of darkness into the light of consciousness, and welcome them as living parts of who we are ...and in so doing, set the prisoners free.
If that is the case the solution would seem to be a simple one: release the pent-up energies. Unfortunately there is such a history of fear attached to those buried passions that their release seems the most dangerous thing in the world. They have been "put away" for a reason, and releasing them would be akin to emptying all the prisons at once. If that were to happen they would surely overwhelm the storylines that hold our lives together, and plunge us all into the emotional chaos that the psychiatrists call psychosis. The process of liberation must, it seems, be patient and methodical.
I find it helpful to remember that the passions or instincts themselves are not the earth-destroying energies we see around us. The destructiveness is entirely a function of the repression (or compression) that turns small atoms of passion into atom-bombs of anger.
Is this not what is alluded to symbolically in those stories and myths where the beast is discovered to be quite lovely, and always wants to be known for what it is, and not feared and loathed for being so ugly and scary.
So I guess that's my New Years wish for myself and others, that we will have the courage to welcome the demons of darkness into the light of consciousness, and welcome them as living parts of who we are ...and in so doing, set the prisoners free.
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David Weale is the Author of The True Meaning of Crumbfest. The unabridged audio edition of The True Meaning of Crumbfest, performed by Antonia Francis is published by Rattling Books.
