FEBRUARY 4
I am not mad:—I would to heaven, I were,
For then, ’tis like I should forget myself:
O, if I could, what grief should I forget!—WILLIAM SHAKESPEAREGrief has indeed pushed men and women over the edge
into insanity. Sometimes we may have felt this way
ourselves: If I could only go crazy...anything to get away
from this terrible consciousness of loss.
Fortunately, such moments pass. If we have been close at
all to the lives of the mentally ill, we know this is no reprieve
from suffering.
And if at times of extreme stress we have felt as though
our own safeguards to reason and reality are blurring, we
know that slipping away from reality is no pathway to peace
of mind and heart—any more than overindulgence in drugs
or alcohol is a valid way to deal with sorrow.
But we understand the impulse, and nod in grateful recog-
nition when we read of others who have had similar feelings.
Knowing I have company in my struggle can help me see my way
through.