What the World Needs is a Little more Insanity
Posted: Tuesday, November 29, 2011
by Dianne Lehmann
Artisan Jewelry from SyZyGy
I don't have a lot of spare time, but I do have a lot of time to think. This might sound like a contradiction, but it is not. Most of what I have to do doesn't require a lot of thought to accomplish. Sure, I like to be efficient, so I might give the order in which I do things some cogitation ahead of time. But let's face it, doing the dishes, cleaning the floor, running errands, trimming plants, changing the oil in my Jeep, mucking horse stalls, grooming horses, doing the laundry, paying the bills, brushing the cat … none of that sort of thing requires logical thinking. Not that all my thinking is logical. Truthfully, most of it is probably not.
It hasn't been a problem for me … really … I think. However, if you asked Bernd, he might have a different reply. But for certain don't talk to the horses; I know what they would say. I'm pretty sure they think all humans are a bit insane. I mean, look at us, our main concern isn't so much having enough to eat, finding a safe place to sleep and working together toward a good end (that being finding enough to eat and a safe place to sleep and possibly a good belly rub now and then). We seem to be more concerned about the clothes we wear and how our hair looks, or if we have hair, or what car we drive and if we have the latest most spectacular cell phone yet manufactured and all the best apps for it.
In any event, the other day Bernd asked me what he should tell people when they ask him what I do. Frankly, I think he should just tell them that they should talk to me about it (but then again maybe not … I'd give them an earful for sure). But I thought about it for a moment or two and then gave him my answer. It made him laugh and I told him I was quite serious. I briefly considered calling myself a writer, but I don't do that to the exclusion of all else and it really hasn't made me any money. That's usually what someone means when they ask you what you "do." I also considered calling myself a jewelry designer. That has actually brought in some decent income over the years. But it's not all that I do either. I chucked the label "homemaker" the moment it popped into my head because I do spend a lot of time doing that. But I grew up in the era of "Leave it to Beaver" and Beaver's mom was the model homemaker. Martha Stewart I am not, nor will I ever be.
Finally I looked at him and said, "When people ask you what I do, tell them I am perfecting insanity." Honestly, it seems to me to be as worthwhile as anything else. Don't you … sometime or another … wonder just what the sense of it all is? You know, LIFE as we currently know it. Don't you look at cars and houses and skyscrapers, telephones and computers, war and contention over religion or territory, people taking what isn't theirs just because they want to, and just think it's all nonsense? Well then, there you go. That's my brand of insanity anyway, the kind that makes you look at the world and think we could do it a whole lot better. The kind that makes you just a bit dissatisfied with the way things are going (okay, maybe a lot some days). The kind that makes you feel a little out of place with it all. Maybe you are perfecting insanity too. And maybe, just maybe, it might make the world a better place.
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Top-level comments on this article: (6 total)Yeah Dianne, the world is a mad place to live, perhaps we do need a little more insanity to get us through.Hi David.
It IS a bit crazy isn't it? Sometimes when I am out in Nature, I think THIS is the way it should be. But it isn't, we've got what we've got and we'll just have to make the best of it. It's just that from time to time I become convinced that we have our priorities all backwards.
Thanks for reading!
Hugs,
Dianne
hi di,
i guess it is hard to figure out what one does when they don't work outside the house, like me. of course, everyone must think 3 bathrooms, 4 bedrooms, a kitchen, and family room clean themselves, but only those who have done it understand. i understand. so, i am joining you in your quest for perfecting insanity, if you don't mind :),
my best to you,
sueHi Sue.
Please! Do join me! The more the merrier, right?
I do honestly think that these days no one really understands the "homemaker." Seems like so many people equate working for a wage with worth that they've forgotten the worth of doing the simple things. But let them run out of clean underwear and look out! :)
Frankly, I don't know how women do it these days working two full-time jobs. I figure that's why fast food restaurants have flourished ... too busy "working" and no time to cook. Oh man, don't get me started! :) Wait! I did that myself. :)
Thanks for reading ... and understanding.
Hugs,
Dianne
Reading your stuff is infectious, intoxicating, or just irresistable. You're fun and cool too.Hi Christofer.
Wow! That is so nice of you to say.
Hugs,
Dianne
Dianne, You're not experiencing insanity; those who wait at Best Buy all night to purchase the latest iPhone or Blackberry are. You've got your priorities straight and that's what counts.
Hi Nancy.
Thanks! I call it insanity because I feel that the majority of the population of the United States would not agree with me. I could be wrong. I'd like to be wrong. But I know people who are my age and can not stop talking about their cell phones, playing with their cell phones and probably thinking about their cell phones.
I think about shows like "Top Chef" where they come up with crazy food and are judged and people sit there and talk about the food like it was art and not fuel for the body and think OMG how did we come to this ... food as entertainment, food as art ... how did that happen? It's just FOOD!
Oh dear! I've gone off again haven't I.
Thanks again and thanks for reading!
Hugs,
Dianne
Sanity, what is it right now? A well paid job, status, the right address, connections, influence? Well all of the above would be Ok if everything was hunky dory. Well, no actually I do not believe that, but I'm trying to prove my sanity!
We are collectively loco! We are destroying our home, our World and why? To make a few bucks and the collective thinking is if I don't someone else will!
What is this this life all about, exactly? What do you do? I'm trying to suggest that we have become collectively insane. No I suspect that that is the wrong answer and will not open many doors to my upward financial mobility.
This is actually a pivitol moment that we are privalaged, or not, depending on your point of view, living in. It is our actions, or inactions that will determine the future of life, for us, on the planet.
Our current definition of sanity is probably insane. Why? Because it is one dimensional, no that is excessively politically correct, we currently value insanity! I'll stop now, before I gat a headache!Hi Terrence.
I think most people would agree with your definition of sanity which is why I think we need more insanity ... my type, your type. My fear is that most people don't see how crazy everything has become. But obviously, I am preaching to the choir, as the saying goes.
It is awfully convoluted and can easily create a headache, so I won't go any further with it either.
Hugs to you, many hugs,
Dianne
HAHAHA I love it. I get called insane (and every variation of the word) at least 5 times a day. And whenever I meet someone new, they tell me the same thing. And the strangest part is that I think I am completely sane, I just like to look at the world differently. I also talk to animals and trees:)
And I agree, the world needs more insanity. Not the scary kind that kills people, but the kind that lets people take life less seriously.
We are all insane in our own ways. We are just at different ends of the spectrum... and I think a little it of insanity is normal :)Hi Tharuna.
In reading your articles (I don't ALWAYS comment ... sorry), it seems to me that we see things quite similarly. Now it is confirmed. I'm glad someone else talks to animals and trees! :) I enjoy your writing a lot, by the way.
Hugs,
Dianne
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