Due to various circumstances, I’ve had to deal with several mentally ill people lately. Some of those dealings have turned out pretty positively, and others…not so much. But what I’ve learned is that this one of the populations that I would love to work with a bit more in the future. Might be a good incentive to get my ass back to school. We’ll see. Anyway, each time I meet with them I am always left quite fascinated. I mean, to hear how much they believe in their own idea of reality is truly something. I wish I could get a pen in their hands and just have them write whatever is in their heads. I bet they’d come up with some brilliant abstract shit. As I’ve had to deal with this population, so have others around me. And I can’t help but notice that not everyone has the same appreciation for them. And people’s reactions have often left me confused and disappointed. You see, I am of the belief that we all got a little bit of crazy in us. Each of us has our own little quirks that others might quickly label as a little nutty. And it’s all good!
Before the holidays, I let The Boss Lady borrow Revolutionary Road. If you remember, this is the movie that shook me to my core and made me realize that if I want to do shit in life, I need to get to it…pronto. It also encouraged me to look outside the box. You know, just because society dictates that life should go a certain way, doesn’t mean I have to abide by it. And so, I was excited to let as many people as were interested watch the movie. When she brought it back, I couldn’t wait to hear her tell me how much she loved the movie. How it made her realize that she missed out on so much in life because she had chosen to conform. Instead, I got, “Oh my God. That poor girl was so mentally ill. I can’t believe nobody tried to get her any help. To think that you can just pack up your stuff and move to Paris without knowing anyone there. My God! Her husband almost quit his job because of her. That’s just crazy.”
For like a split second, I thought, “Oh, man. Maybe I’m crazy too, then.” To believe that if one day La Shy Girl and I decided to just pack up and follow the wind, the rest of the world would consider us crazy is not something I’d ever considered. Then I thought, well, Boss Lady is just old school. Nothing wrong with that. It’s just a matter of opinion…I guess. But then I remembered when I wanted nothing more than to go to Mexico and study acting after high school and my parents pretty much told me I was crazy and it was never going to happen. I still didn’t believe I was crazy then. In fact, a part of me still resents that I was never given the opportunity. Shit, I could be playing gardener #5 in “Amar Es Para Siempre.”
In my life, I want to salute those that throw social standards out the window and live their life however the fuck they want. Who cares if people tell you you’re an obsessive shoe shopper? Who cares if people think you’re crazy for turning down a job in this economy? For God’s sake, who gives a shit if you go around telling people that the reason they can’t find happiness is because they haven’t accepted Jesus in their lives? Shit, go on and get your creepy on!
Think about it…it’s crazy to think we can elect one man to run the nation and expect him to be perfect. It’s crazy to live your life according to how some book tells you to. For God’s sake, Taylor Swift just won Album of the Year! What the fuck?! There is craziness all around us. And so just because we think a little bit differently than those around us, it doesn’t mean we’re crazy, crazy.
It’s funny that we get so set in our ways, we actually start to think our way is the right way. God knows I’m guilty of it. But if we know that we are capable of creating complete alternate realities in our minds…if we know that we go nuts if one of our DVD’s is not put back in the correct alphabetical order…if we go through our days thinking the whole world is against us, then who the fuck are we to judge those that are fully lost in mental illness? Who are we to be afraid? Instead we should just embrace our own eccentricities and learn to sympathize with those that walk the earth among us. Even if they eat some crazy shit like soyrizo!
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