The Madman’s Idea

Posted on by Vincent
and why this portrait of a kleptomaniac? A madman, I suppose. And why a madman in the first place? I must have been mad

rediscovered this post today. All these years later, I’m still as “ordinary”, whatever that means, but can’t tap stuff like this into my super-ergonomic keyboard 

Like a poor man suddenly gifted with gold, that’s burning a hole in my pocket, I am newly burdened with the riches of an idea, impatient to spend and be rid and be poor again. If one person understands, shall I be joyful? If no one at all, I’ll surely not be downhearted.

The time has come to speak of the Ordinary, and what makes it so special. See here, I trip myself up with cursed paradox, before I have even begun.

To be ordinary is to feel every mood, good or bad, without possibility of escape. Life cannot be masked or disguised like a smell. It deserves to be taken as it is. There are those who say we can inscribe our vision on the pages of our life, defying and defacing what is written there already. Like a slow-witted peasant, wedded to his piece of land, I struggle to read those pages with trembling hands, awed by a message I can hardly decipher. I don’t have the effrontery to scribble on top.

Three weeks ago I stepped out into a straight road going West. A sunset dazzled my eyes, bathed everything in gold. That’s when I knew—that I aspired to nothing more than being ordinary. Only then could I be as special as the Creation itself. The dying sun gilded everything, even as I walked through a scruffy part of town, whose Victorian houses have been divided into rented rooms. Spilt refuse and broken furniture desecrate their thresholds.

People want to escape their own slum and be “special”.  I, gifted already with something special, that offers me all colours and odours, aspire to the ordinariness of a stray dog. Thus I mock myself, for ideas to set the world afire corrupt my brain. Perhaps I teeter on the edge of madness. Shaving this morning, I catch my own eye and it sinks in how my whole existence is blessed by the Ordinary. It’s only the idea that’s a curse.

Is my life to be devoured by ambition, till only crumbs remain? Shall I be strangled by my own folly? Is the gift of gold a blessing or a curse?

10 thoughts on “The Madman’s Idea”

  2. I enjoyed your post today, thanks.

    Maybe the gift of gold is neither a blessing or a curse. Enjoy the gift! 🙂

    I noticed your new picture on top, what is in those tanks?

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  3. “To be ordinary is to feel every mood, good or bad, without possibility of escape. Life cannot be masked or disguised like a smell. It deserves to be taken as it is.”

    Yes, indeed. Isn't it odd too that we seem to spend so much time unhappy with who we are, what we are feeling, what we are doing….etc., always wanting something to be other than it is, rather than just being whatever is in a moment.

    So to be special is to just be, to be ordinary, or maybe just to be (you) and be content with whatever (you) happens to mean at any given time.

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  4. Thanks for dropping in, David, & your comments are appreciated. I looked at yours too, sad that I don't know Portuguese.

    Kathy, those tanks are opposite where I work. It's a pharmaceutical factory and they are labelled “non-hazardous”. I imagine they are full of basic gunk, like the things they put in hand-cream, shampoo and so forth.

    Serenity, I've missed being able to comment on your blog, but I'll write an email when I can. And thanks for your comment here. I'm glad you got the gist of what I wanted to say.

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  6. Hi Vincent, in mystic traditions, “gold” refers to Knowledge (i.e. self-knowledge = divine knowledge). And again, in a mystic reversal, such gold is also called horse-dung, i.e. something utterly value-less. Your post touches on this same dualism, the idea being an imprisoner as well as a liberator!

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  7. I believe there is something extraordinary about everyone.

    It is a matter of whether or not you choose to reveal those extraordinary qualities to others or whether others choose to see them.

    But we need not be conspicuous, or draw attention to ourselves. Perhaps that is what you speak of.

    With anonymity, comes a sense of freedom that people in the limelight do not enjoy.

    You do not have to live up to the reputation that others have created for you.

    You are free to be yourself, or alter your course to fit your personal agenda, instead of one put upon you by your perceived identity.

    With the relentless process of categorization or pigeon holing that our society engages in, we can live under the radar as ordinary citizens.

    Fine with me. But if anyone chooses to slot me in a category, don't be disappointed if I don't live up to your expectations.

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  9. Thanks Kathy. So if we revisit the story of the 3 wise men who followed the star to reach Bethlehem to bless the new-born Christ – who were they? where did they come from? what gifts did they bear? The items they are supposed to have carried – gold, frankicense and myrrh, and the names of the wise men – Balthazar, Melchior and Casper – all provide clues. Anyway, I would interpret “gold” here to mean sacred teaching; and in a largely unlettered world, this would have been conveyed through melody. The other items, I would interpret as fragrance (like “attar” or “itr”; recall the great Persian Sufi-poet, Farid-ud-din Attar (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attar;the perfumer's work being like the alchemist's); and asafoetida (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asafoetida), a pungent plant resin used to give a delectable flavour and aroma to cooking.

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