Sunday 3 November 2013

Dreams and Nightmares

They're not the same; not even nearly. You think they're two kinds of the same thing but they're not. What's a dream? A vision, a refuge, an ideal......a dream is something which very very very few really live through. Its what keeps you away from madness, from despair, even from mild disappointments. But i tell you, a nightmare's not something you just see. Its not an experience alone. Its a reality. A reality so real you can feel it laying its putrid hands across your face and neck and see its grin sending waves along your spine and see two cold eyes staring at you as it would on a shivering prey. You don't always live a dream but you always live a nightmare. Don't think they're the same.......i tell you the grin, the hands, the slime, the trembling......THESE are what make a nightmare......they make it real.  You have the key to your dream's door; but your nightmare always has a new lock to put on every possible exit you can come up with.......and the scream! Yes, the scream! Ha! You think that's the way out? Yet another dream! Ha ha!! Those cold hands are wrapped around your mouth and the face smiles as it lets you try to weasel out a shout for help.......but it won't work!! Your only hope? That it ends.

What's in a Smile

A smile's not the antithesis of tears. Its not always motivational philosophy when someone says "keep up that smile" especially because it doesn't always have to mean "stay happy to keep away from harsh realities". I know what you might expect from this after reading the title, but this isn't a voice from the centre; its a voice from the knife-edge of sanity.
So, what's in a smile? Well, the most common idea is that a smile in its emotional content either represents happiness or pleasure. You smile when you see someone you like, or when you hear something that makes you feel good. Its strange though, you also smile out of pity, exasperation, or sometimes (for those who speak the lovely lingo of Sarcasm) in tongue-in-cheek contempt. The whole point is that a smile seems to be born out of feelings that your mind seees as comforting.
But see that's the deal; smiling and keeping up your smile is quite meaningless if that's all you see in a smile. What distinguishes a fool from a madman is that the smile of the fool has more stuff in it than that of the madman. Two major manifestations of insanity are extreme fits of laughter and extreme soberness (both without cause). Smiling seems to be the mind's way of trying to not collapse under pressure. I mean, when i think about it, you laugh your head off not because your friend just cracked a joke, but because somewhere deep within, your mind felt the need and saw the opportunity to vent out some of its pressure.
So, what's in a smile, and what could be the invisible meaning when a genius says "keep smiling"? Well, a smile helps you think. It is the antithesis of those thought-feelings that arise out of misunderstood and consequently destructive sanity. Strange but logical; you can think straight only when your lines don't have rocks bending them over like mountain roads. You need a humorous turn of mind to look at things as they are. Just because activists and philosophers are dead serious doesn't mean they lack humour. A little sarcasm, a kutti smile here and there are signs; they are signs that your brainbox is ready for thought. That is, of course, if YOU are ready for thought. In the opposite case....well........you're just plain sane.