Poem: "Some Achieve Madness"
Jun. 6th, 2017 08:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis is today's freebie, inspired by several folks including beasts_of_homeworld. It also fills the "Crazy" square in my 2-1-17 (Love Songs) card for the Valentines Bingo fest.
Warning: This poem incorporates concepts and descriptions from people with various mental issues. Not everyone may feel comfortable with the same terms or choices.
"Some Achieve Madness"
They say "crazy" like
it's a bad thing but that's
not necessarily so.
What people call madness
is not a monolithic thing,
and it's not all bad.
This is variation and diversity
as well as aberration and pathology.
Sometimes it's innate and
other times an injury.
Dramatically different experiences
of reality are all equally valid and okay.
People with different mental
and emotional landscapes aren't
always "disabled" but may have
valuable insights and skills to contribute
because of their mental differences.
In some cultures, divine madness
is respected and Sacred-Crazy
is an honorific, not a pejorative.
Even the "crazy" people can be
responsible for their actions.
It's not a synomym for "abusive."
A sociopath may have
a meticulously constructed set
of personal morals, which are
no less good for being handmade.
Compulsions can be much easier
to handle when someone has space
to perform them in a respectful atmosphere
so long as they're not harming anyone.
A megalomaniac may crave a fantasy world,
but whether it is malevolent or beneficent
is a matter of personal preference.
Panic attacks are no less terrifying,
but are much less hazardous,
with a friend to stand watch.
Sometimes what people need the most
is not a "cure" but permission to be mad,
a safe place to be crazy in, and a little help
recognizing how to keep themselves and
others safe without having to act "normal."
Intentional neighboring and supportive ties
are just as healthy as independence.
People can be mentally different
yet still fully functional, if their brains
and feelings and experiences are not
the same as everyone else's.
A welcoming community
can make the difference between
divergence and disability.
Some are born mad,
some achieve madness, and
some have madness thrust upon them.
Others choose to take it by the hand
and walk together as friends.
* * *
Notes:
“Some are born mad, some achieve madness, and some have madness thrust upon 'em.”
― Emilie Autumn, The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls
Derogatory terms for mental illness can increase the tendency toward discrimination, which harms everyone. Here are some ideas for improving the situation.
In some cultures, divine madness is respected. One of my favorite books on this topic is Crazy Wisdom.
I could not find a reference for sociopathy that was anything other than obnoxious. >_< If anyone has a more neutral reference, please post it.
Compulsions are intrusive behaviors.
Megalomania is a fantasy about great power.
Panic attacks can happen to anyone under enough stress. When they have no identifiable cause (such as living in a warzone) and occur often enough to impair everyday life, it's called panic disorder.
People with mental illness need understanding and validation most of all. Learn how to support someone, and what mentally ill people want from their friends and families. The ideal of intentional neighboring holds that each person has strengths and weaknesses, the purpose of community being for neighbors to help each other do the things they find difficult. So nobody is seen as unable or needy; it's a healthy exchange that benefits everyone.
As a topic of discussion for people who live with mental issues of any kind: What things do you actually find helpful, as opposed to "helpiness" when people try to saddle you with things they think you should want?
beasts_of_homeworld. It also fills the "Crazy" square in my 2-1-17 (Love Songs) card for the Valentines Bingo fest.Warning: This poem incorporates concepts and descriptions from people with various mental issues. Not everyone may feel comfortable with the same terms or choices.
"Some Achieve Madness"
They say "crazy" like
it's a bad thing but that's
not necessarily so.
What people call madness
is not a monolithic thing,
and it's not all bad.
This is variation and diversity
as well as aberration and pathology.
Sometimes it's innate and
other times an injury.
Dramatically different experiences
of reality are all equally valid and okay.
People with different mental
and emotional landscapes aren't
always "disabled" but may have
valuable insights and skills to contribute
because of their mental differences.
In some cultures, divine madness
is respected and Sacred-Crazy
is an honorific, not a pejorative.
Even the "crazy" people can be
responsible for their actions.
It's not a synomym for "abusive."
A sociopath may have
a meticulously constructed set
of personal morals, which are
no less good for being handmade.
Compulsions can be much easier
to handle when someone has space
to perform them in a respectful atmosphere
so long as they're not harming anyone.
A megalomaniac may crave a fantasy world,
but whether it is malevolent or beneficent
is a matter of personal preference.
Panic attacks are no less terrifying,
but are much less hazardous,
with a friend to stand watch.
Sometimes what people need the most
is not a "cure" but permission to be mad,
a safe place to be crazy in, and a little help
recognizing how to keep themselves and
others safe without having to act "normal."
Intentional neighboring and supportive ties
are just as healthy as independence.
People can be mentally different
yet still fully functional, if their brains
and feelings and experiences are not
the same as everyone else's.
A welcoming community
can make the difference between
divergence and disability.
Some are born mad,
some achieve madness, and
some have madness thrust upon them.
Others choose to take it by the hand
and walk together as friends.
* * *
Notes:
“Some are born mad, some achieve madness, and some have madness thrust upon 'em.”
― Emilie Autumn, The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls
Derogatory terms for mental illness can increase the tendency toward discrimination, which harms everyone. Here are some ideas for improving the situation.
In some cultures, divine madness is respected. One of my favorite books on this topic is Crazy Wisdom.
I could not find a reference for sociopathy that was anything other than obnoxious. >_< If anyone has a more neutral reference, please post it.
Compulsions are intrusive behaviors.
Megalomania is a fantasy about great power.
Panic attacks can happen to anyone under enough stress. When they have no identifiable cause (such as living in a warzone) and occur often enough to impair everyday life, it's called panic disorder.
People with mental illness need understanding and validation most of all. Learn how to support someone, and what mentally ill people want from their friends and families. The ideal of intentional neighboring holds that each person has strengths and weaknesses, the purpose of community being for neighbors to help each other do the things they find difficult. So nobody is seen as unable or needy; it's a healthy exchange that benefits everyone.
As a topic of discussion for people who live with mental issues of any kind: What things do you actually find helpful, as opposed to "helpiness" when people try to saddle you with things they think you should want?
(no subject)
Date: 2017-06-07 01:38 am (UTC)RESPONSE:
“If my acquaintances were to submit to this advice, I would be made to feel like one whose head was slathered in maple syrup and tied down in a whelping box with a dozen month-old Labrador Retrievers.”
---
“Do you think I've gone round the bend?” ... "All the best people are.” -- Alice in Wonderland
I dunno. I don't think I'm ready to take Jimbo's advice... nor am I ready to take a tongue-lashing from a bunch of puppies (cat licks are one thing, they may be rough but they're not MESSY)...
But maybe, just maybe, I might be able to make friends with Pan's alter ego... one can hope.
*laugh*
Date: 2017-06-07 01:43 am (UTC)Re: *laugh*
Date: 2017-06-07 01:51 am (UTC)Sometimes it's the little shit that can pop the Black Dog's bubble.. finding that quote about the puppies started it, but then making you laugh? *that* was what really did it.
*squish* <3
Re: *laugh*
Date: 2017-06-07 02:01 am (UTC)Re: *laugh*
Date: 2017-06-07 02:03 am (UTC)I dunno, even the Unseelie, this guy may be too chaotic for...
Re: *laugh*
Date: 2017-06-07 02:04 am (UTC)Re: *laugh*
Date: 2017-06-07 02:14 am (UTC)Re: *laugh*
Date: 2017-06-07 02:18 am (UTC)"My name is Inigo Montoya. You kill my country.... "
And you remember how that scene ends.
Re: *laugh*
Date: 2017-06-07 02:28 am (UTC)Re: *laugh*
Date: 2017-06-07 02:33 am (UTC)Re: *laugh*
Date: 2017-06-07 03:14 am (UTC)Re: *laugh*
Date: 2017-06-07 05:41 am (UTC)Re: *laugh*
Date: 2017-06-07 05:42 am (UTC)Re: *laugh*
Date: 2017-06-07 01:00 pm (UTC)Re: *laugh*
Date: 2017-06-07 02:32 pm (UTC)Re: *laugh*
Date: 2017-06-07 11:57 am (UTC)Re: *laugh*
Date: 2017-06-07 02:06 am (UTC)Re: *laugh*
Date: 2017-06-07 02:14 am (UTC)Their rightful prey is traitors.
Re: *laugh*
Date: 2017-06-07 02:19 am (UTC)That could be....
Interesting.
Re: *laugh*
Date: 2017-06-07 02:23 am (UTC)https://eric-aaronson-and-the-dubious-reasons.obsidianportal.com/wikis/the-wild-hunt
Re: *laugh*
Date: 2017-06-07 03:15 am (UTC)Re: *laugh*
Date: 2017-06-07 03:59 am (UTC)...
Almost got mistaken for one 'cause some of'em's the ones that got dreds. Um, nope. I be tigerman thanks. xd
-Jay~
Re: *laugh*
Date: 2017-06-07 03:58 am (UTC)This is especially funny to us lot 'cause we collectively owned by Arawn...so yeah. xddddd :)
-Jay~
Re: *laugh*
Date: 2017-06-07 05:12 am (UTC)... actually, that's true for a lot of my friends.
Re: *laugh*
Date: 2017-06-13 12:33 am (UTC)Some of us more than others-I tend to know; but we been alone (Least the body has) for so long that anyone who wants our friendship...we tend to wanna hold onto pretty damn tight 'cause we don't have many-'specially locally.
Lot of uses wer damn glad when the computer were a regular thin' 'cause then we could get online friends-and we just as close to some pof'em as we are the local ones these days-somethin' the earth-parents don't be gettin'.
We still miss goin' out with people, though. Still don't get much o'that beyond schoolin'.
-Jay~
Re: *laugh*
Date: 2017-06-13 01:00 am (UTC)Yeah, I know how that goes.
>> Some of us more than others-I tend to know; but we been alone (Least the body has) for so long that anyone who wants our friendship...we tend to wanna hold onto pretty damn tight 'cause we don't have many-'specially locally. <<
It sucks to be starving for company and then told to back off.
>> Lot of uses wer damn glad when the computer were a regular thin' 'cause then we could get online friends-and we just as close to some pof'em as we are the local ones these days-somethin' the earth-parents don't be gettin'.<<
Agreed. There have been times I had close friends locally, but not recently. Right now, my closest friends live far away. But they are very much a part of my life, and I of theirs.
I'm metasexual. I just don't get this obsession with meat that most people have. What matters is that I can connect with someone intimately, not whether we're rubbing our meat together, sexually or otherwise.
>>We still miss goin' out with people, though. Still don't get much o'that beyond schoolin'.<<
Bummer.
Re: *laugh*
Date: 2017-06-13 01:38 am (UTC)We also tend to ramble (I can shut it down sometimes) when we ain' had anyone to talk to in a while in hopes we get listened to-an' sometimes it turn into babble that jus...can annoy some people, an' some don't say it, an' some do.
Thankfully the rambly shit's been cut down on, but it still come out sometimes.
Yeah, it becomin' that way, too. We done interacted with ya enough that lya becomin' one of said friends-and the connection we done built beans a helluva lot to us. Don't matter what else happens-ya done a lot to bring us out an' show us thin's in ways that pretty much no one else has.
-Jay~
Re: *laugh*
Date: 2017-07-01 11:02 pm (UTC)Re: *laugh*
Date: 2017-07-01 11:52 pm (UTC)-Jay~
Re: *laugh*
Date: 2017-07-02 01:38 am (UTC)Aw, shucks.
>> She be the reason I ain't so much worried what I be perceived by others an' mah grammar shit. Let alone the she give support for comin' out on shit that might be uncomfortable an all that. :d <<
Yay!
Speak your truth, be yourself, and let other people worry what to go do about it. Besides, my Mama's people come from Tennessee. Your accent isn't that much thicker than mine when I've been down South for a bit, it's why I pick up a bit from you sometimes. I always start echoing it if I hear it -- and it's how I talk about certain topics all the time.
Re: *laugh*
Date: 2017-07-02 09:33 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2017-06-07 01:41 am (UTC)it's beautiful and awesome. we're not able to check out the links you found today but we want to (and we've loved Emilie Autumn for a few years now!), and thankyou so, so much for making this and for finding the links and just generally you rock.
we're also not surprised you couldn't find a good reference for sociopathy. >_> that's a big part of why our friend was anonymous. there just really isn't much room for any concepts of that in this society that aren't synonymous with bad things.
but this is gorgeous and thankyou SO much for crafting this! <3 <3 <3
Thoughts
Date: 2017-06-07 01:51 am (UTC):D I'm glad you liked it. Freebie, because:
1) It's one of the few nonplotty prompts I got this time.
2) I wanted to poke some bigots in the eye because this topic is rarely talked about as discrimination.
>> it's beautiful and awesome.<<
Yay!
>> we're not able to check out the links you found today but we want to (and we've loved Emilie Autumn for a few years now!), and thankyou so, so much for making this and for finding the links and just generally you rock.<<
Aw, shucks.
>> we're also not surprised you couldn't find a good reference for sociopathy. >_> that's a big part of why our friend was anonymous. <<
That sucks. It's okay to be anonymous when people are out to get you. :(
>> there just really isn't much room for any concepts of that in this society that aren't synonymous with bad things. <<
Painfully true. I am reminded of the way that religious people look down on nonreligious people and say that they're immoral just because they make their own morals instead of getting them from a disembodied spirit (or as the atheists sometimes put it, from an imaginary friend or a fantasy book).
>> but this is gorgeous and thankyou SO much for crafting this! <3 <3 <3 <<
*bow, flourish* Happy to be of service.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2017-06-07 02:55 am (UTC)1) It's one of the few nonplotty prompts I got this time.
2) I wanted to poke some bigots in the eye because this topic is rarely talked about as discrimination. <<
1) We're glad we could provide a handy nonplotty prompt~
2) THANK YOU SO MUCH.
Seriously, that is... really validating and helpful for us to hear recognised aloud by someone other than each other and a few of our life-partners. You're right, it is pretty rare for most people to talk about the discrimination aspect of this, and it can leave people like us feeling hopeless and alone and second-guessing ourselves.
It feels like almost no-one considers this topic to be a 'real' oppression, and everyone seems perfectly happy to go on using the words that mean things we are as ways to say someone's evil and abusive and dangerous and terrible. We're always terrified to bring it up and never usually challenge anyone for saying things that mean that we are worthless and evil monsters. Because if practically everyone we ever meet is of the opinion that there's nothing wrong with saying that sort of thing, then surely it's us who are wrong? Because even when we know that's a lie and that's how oppression works, if practically everyone we ever meet is of the opinion there's nothing wrong with saying that sort of thing, then it's dangerous and feels utterly hopeless for us to try and speak up.
We only ever see people treating it like the discriminatory lies and stereotypes are true and the slur-usage of words for things we are to mean 'bad' is accurate. We almost never see anyone acknowledging that there's discrimination involved at all.
We feel like we're in the position where the oppressed individual is getting the burden of stopping their oppressors from opressing them placed upon them. Why is it our job to tell the people with big scary sticks to stop hitting us? We don't even have a splinter to our name, let alone a shield or a stick of our own to parry with.
>> That sucks. It's okay to be anonymous when people are out to get you. :( <<
Thankyou. Friend in question says thankyou too (and extends it to the whole poem and the other things we've been talking about and saying here). <3
>> I am reminded of the way that religious people look down on nonreligious people and say that they're immoral just because they make their own morals instead of getting them from a disembodied spirit (or as the atheists sometimes put it, from an imaginary friend or a fantasy book). <<
Yeah, it's very similar, in fact i'd say it's basically the same thing from a different angle.
Relatedly, a friend of mine was talking about the problems with charities using guilt tactics in their ads a month or two ago, and just now gave me permission to quote them here. They said: "if someone does the right thing just because it's the right thing, then that's genuine morality and you can rely on that person to keep doing the right thing to the best of their ability in future situations, even if they're different situations."
Out of context, that quote strikes me as working here too, in the sense of an inclusive explanation of morality - that no matter where your morals come from, if you're doing something because it's the right thing, that's real morality.
~ Ray and the rest of the beasts
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2017-06-07 05:16 am (UTC)That reminds me of something the Jesuit teaching my 5th grade religion class explained to us.
If you refrain from sinning to avoid getting punished for it that really doesn't give you any "moral credit". You have refrain from sinning because it's the right thing to do.
That bothers a lot of people. But I find it a useful yardstick.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2017-06-07 05:26 am (UTC)Re: Thoughts
Date: 2017-07-02 03:03 am (UTC)Some religious people; far from all. I know many people of many religions and of no religion who are not intolerant at all.
(no subject)
Date: 2017-06-07 01:54 am (UTC)Thoughts
Date: 2017-06-07 02:03 am (UTC)Sooth. That's why I write what I write. I can't fix the culture; I can throw merry bundles of words into the coverage gap.
>> Ysabet is very good at it. <<
Thanks for the vote of confidence.
>> She's one of a goodly handful of people, every one of them weird and wonderful in some fashion or other, that are the reason I still have my tattered sanity and can still function almost every day. <<
*hugs* I'm happy I could help. You're good people too.
(no subject)
Date: 2017-06-07 06:53 pm (UTC)* Unlike popular superstition, in Jewish tradition thirteen is a very good number.
** Merriam-Webster, slightly edited by yr. obed't serv't:
Definition of GODLY for English Language Learners
: believing in God(s) and in the importance of living a moral life
(no subject)
Date: 2017-06-07 04:55 am (UTC)Today was a very flappy stimmy day. I am afraid to flap and fidget and hum when not in my car or apartment. This poem was good to read.
You're welcome!
Date: 2017-06-07 04:58 am (UTC)Yay!
>> I am afraid to flap and fidget and hum when not in my car or apartment. <<
I can relate to that.
When I'm tired, my preferred method of climbing stairs is on all fours. I don't do it in public, because people are a fucking nuisance. But I see the problem as being in their heads, not in my choice of locomotion. I just don't want to deal with their stupid baggage.
>> This poem was good to read.<<
I'm happy to hear that.
Re: You're welcome!
Date: 2017-06-08 05:08 am (UTC)Some particular stairs - especially carpeted indoor ones - I prefer to do on four. It just works better.
Thanks.
Re: You're welcome!
Date: 2017-06-08 05:38 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2017-06-07 05:30 am (UTC)I was "kinky" from a *very* early age. Like 4 or 5.
But growing up, all the references to it (what few there were) portrayed such things as majorly sick if not outright evil.
Kinda hard to feel good about yourself when something that innate was treated that way.
Most liberating moment in my life was when (due to crossed wires in some emails) I came out to a friend. And she told me that she wasn't into it. But she didn't see anything wrong with me being into it.
Yeah, by then I'd been reading stuff that said kink was ok for years. But all of it was written by folks who were into it. Here was somebody *not* into it saying they didn't see anything wrong.
We need a lot more of that sort of statement about a *lot* of things.
Though I have to admit that the recent editions of the DSM got it mostly right with that stock phrase on many of the classifications that says (more or less) "if it isn't hurting anyone, and it isn't causing problems functioning in society, then it isn't a disorder"
We could use a further bit about if the problem functioning in society is because society disapproves, then it's *their* problem, not yours. Of course I'm mostly thinking about stuff where most people don't actually care one way or the other, but the loudmouths who want to run things con people into going along with them (often by making them think that they aren't normal, so they support the power play to avoid appearing "abnormal")
Got a story idea about a world where they are much like ours, except they are willing to *tolerate* folks who are different, even if they disapprove. But it's one of many waiting for further inspiration to strike.
(no subject)
Date: 2017-06-08 05:09 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2017-06-07 06:44 pm (UTC)I had to check that one. Yes, they are intrusive on the person who has them, not necessarily or even usually on other people.
(no subject)
Date: 2017-06-09 05:15 am (UTC)