Weed, whiskey, pills, shrinks, out-of-control shopping and some wall punching. Does any of this sound like your life?
Do you ever feel as if the life you are living is just a dream? Does your life ever feel like a movie? The places you go, the things you do, the people you meet, the scenarios you find yourself in? No one is saying that this dream isn’t a nightmare, or that the movie can’t be a horror film. We have variety for that very purpose, so that very few of our stories will ever be the same.
We live in a society where escaping whatever the reality in your mind is has become a frequent and very consistent occurrence. It is normal to look for ways to run away from the things our inner consciousness cannot let go of. So, rather than letting go of the pains we face, we medicate to forget them only to have them come right back with more intensity when the effects of whatever these medications we are using wear off. And then what?
Building a strong mind is building a stronger life. If you ask most people, they will most likely give you a sob story about how their life is so much tougher than it looks. Rarely do you ever come across a human being who will do the opposite and highlight the things that have been most beautiful about their lives. Not everyday is a mess or a tragedy, so why then do we insist on holding on to the pains that we suffer? Do we not understand that in doing so we stay in those moments of pain way passed their occurrences?
Just What I Am by the self proclaimed weirdo Kid Cudi is by all accounts the cry of an artist that is trapped in a dream he cannot escape. It is the justification of a lifestyle that he subconsciously wanted, and without even crediting his mind, he made happen.
Uma complained of a boil on her leg, and fetched a jar of ointment. I smeared a bit of the salve on my forearm. “Why do you use medicine on a healthy arm?” “Well, Sis, I feel I am going to have a boil tomorrow. I am testing your ointment on the spot where the boil will appear.” “You little liar!” “Sis, don’t call me a liar until you see what happens in the morning.” Indignation filled me. Uma was unimpressed, and thrice repeated her taunt. An adamant resolution sounded in my voice as I made slow reply. “By the power of will in me, I say that tomorrow I shall have a fairly large boil in this exact place on my arm; and yourboil shall swell to twice its present size!”Morning found me with a stalwart boil on the indicated spot; the dimensions of Uma’s boil had doubled. With a shriek, my sister rushed to Mother. “Mukunda has become a necromancer!” Gravely, Mother instructed me never to use the power of words for doing harm. I have always remembered her counsel, and followed it.
My boil was surgically treated. A noticeable scar, left by the doctor’s incision, is present today. On my right forearm is a constant reminder of the power in man’s sheer word.
Those simple and apparently harmless phrases to Uma, spoken with deep concentration, had possessed sufficient hidden force to explode like bombs and produce definite, though injurious, effects. I understood, later, that the explosive vibratory power in speech could be wisely directed to free one’s life from difficulties, and thus operate without scar or rebuke.” - Autobiography of a Yogi.
Is Mr. Mescudi in pain? Yes. But he keeps himself in an almost constant state of euphoria via the marijuana, the liquor, the pills, the women, the shopping, and almost anything else to keep his mind busy other than training it. The musical production on Just What I Am translates to the chilled out state that weed puts any of us in, and then it is meshed with electronic sounds that represent those momentary flashes of the very things some of you are so desperately trying to escape.
When you realize that facing the pains, accepting what happened as a life lesson, and then letting go is the key to real mental stability and growth, only then will you be able to put down the medications, whatever they may be, at will, and use them only for rare recreational purposes, if at all even needed.
Need a real escape? Listen to a song that you have never heard before, or read pages that you have never seen before, or, go for a run. If you are not making every aspect of you progressively better and more complete, and you are in that much pain that you need constant escapes, then why not just go away?
“If you have that much pain… Jimmy, why don’t you just jump off the roof?” - The Black Donnellys
