Mad, From Within and Beyond (2)

Though just a few people would admit it, this is the reality: almost everybody goes mad once awhile. For instance, I have been mad before, again and again and I guess you have had your few moments of madness too. One of the times I went mad was when, as a ten-year-old, my mother got me my first game console ever. It was a gift I had anticipated endlessly and so, I went mad with uncontrollable happiness when I saw it. I repeatedly ran around our house like a drugged horse until an inelastic collision between my dog and I calmed the madness. Yet, I admit that what happened to me was madness; it was what I’d term positive madness.

But here is someone else’s story. On one random occasion that I had to visit someone in a hospital ward, a boy suddenly began to laugh when he was intimated with the news of his young mother’s death. He first screamed out at the peak of his voice and then soloed into an intermittent session of soliloquy and dance. Normally, anyone who had just received such news would be quiet, turn sober or really mourn. Otherwise, they may ask to see the corpse first. But this twenty-something-year-old guy began to laugh like a psychotic hyena. I wonder if his father had felt like calming him with a steaming slap. Initially, everyone thought he had run permanently mad. But when he began to call his friends to tell them about the loss, we realized he was still sane. Now, that is another kind of madness. It may be termed negative madness because an opposite emotive reaction occurred in the subject.

If you’d be honest with yourself, you’d admit to have been mad before too. Perhaps, there has been one or more rare moments of deep uncontrollable joy or pain that made you do something crazy or mad. It could be the day you graduated from college, the hour you won a very competitive scholarship, the minute you received your first car or the moment you realized that you had won a million dollars. It could have been the positive or negative kind of madness. But it was temporal. It was spontaneous. And it was, of course, an instance of ordinary madness.

To be continued…

Mad, From Within and Beyond

Insanity is a state of the mind and it’s nothing more or anything less. At least, I think, you think and psychiatric patients think- at their own level. When people behave in certain unusual ways, we associate their behaviours to a state of health, emotional state or life experiences. But on the face of it, the behaviour of a person who seems to have lost it mentally is very similar to that found in persons with strange behaviours. In fact, people are only described as mad based on the degree of their derailment from what we term norm or the ordinarily expected behaviour. If this is the case, then we might as well say that all of us have a degree of latent madness.

Can we say that this white man mimicking local traders is mad?

It is uncommon to find a mad baby. While I have not made adequate findings as to whether infants run mad let alone unearth the causes, I am certain that babies too can have mental derailment. I strongly believe they could be born with it. It is only difficult to recognize or diagnose an infant’s lunacy due to the fact that they are yet to form behavioural identity. Every Day Health alleged in one of its Blog posts of February 2011 that the American Psychological Association affirmed the foregoing fact. In my search for the original reference, I found it to be true here.

Can we say that sane youths dressed in this manner for fun are partially lunatic?

When infants come out of their mothers, it is naturally expected that they find the environment strange and consequently react. The separation from a warm environment to a new one in an independent state is a considerable ordeal. Many of us passed through that stage but we can hardly remember. However, if we imagined ourselves, isolated from earth in another planet containing millions of aliens having similar but more gigantic physiques, we would react someway. This is a close illustration of what infants undergo. In a bid to ensure that babies respond to this change in environment, maternity nurses and midwives usually influence a little measure of sensation or pain to ascertain their aliveness and ability to perceive pain. In his interesting self-help book titled, Where There Is No Doctor, David Werner accurately explains that act. Yet, there are several cases. Many of which have not been through the pipeline of scholastic archive. For example, where the new-born child does not cry and yet breathes, could it be assumed that such a child is mentally imbalanced or nervously disadvantaged?

To be continued...

Diagnosing the World of [Good + Bad = Good]

Written by Farooq Kolawole esq. & Ayo Morakinyo

In days of yore lie the handy hints, salubrious stories and looming lessons that illuminate our living and unclose its window into the faintest future. ---Morakinyo A.J.

 Some, out of the many times, I have asked myself “why peer into the past to seek distinct pointers? “, the common response has been, “Why not?”  If growing up was fun and it’s all we have as evidence, why take our minds off it? Though we are still growing and learning, our lives are now upon the wings of time, ticking off with the clock’s cockiness, at the rate of each man’s breath...

                We were either born lefties or righties and did learn with time that what we do is either bad or good. We learnt it is good to share with others, to return lost items to their owners, to obey our parents and respect older persons. We were also told not to: pick what belonged to others, lie, steal, cheat or hurt others. We were told many other things too which altogether form the foundation of our future. And it makes me believe that we have learnt all we need in life right from our kindergarten days. Everything you need to know has been taught to you somewhere or sometime in the past. Maybe in simpler words and plainer pictures, but they’ve all been taught. What we learn today are their complex syntheses.

                I believe we were born to live simple and not complicatedly. What are the things we really need to live? What makes up a good life? Being happy with what you have, sharing your joy, playing fairly, being sorry when you do wrong, making peace, preventing violence, respecting other people’s views, properties and privacy and maybe, cleaning up your own mess. They tend to grant us a good life. But oftentimes, we complicate things for ourselves. Life’s complications start when your wants or desires exceed your needs; when you chase things just because you want them; not because they improve your life or other’s welfare. Many times, we focus on our wants and not our needs. Usually, it’s about the latest fashion, the newest gadgets and every other thing that’s up-to-the-minute. And, that’s where the entire world is heading to.

                Today, the world is complicated. It is an evolving place where:

good is > or = bad and good + (bad) ² = good,

A world where people only care about their neighbours as time (t) → o.

Friends = people who are yet to hurt you and where immorality = what the wrong majority says rocks. 

It’s a new world where “smartness” = cheating others + not getting caught and if you return a lost-but-found item, then you’re said to be quite dull.

In the present world, the fact that you’re a virgin could get you scorned at by “so-called” friends. Drinking, drugging and smoking are what makes people call you a “tough guy” otherwise, you're called "old-school". If you’re slapped on the face and choose to walk away, they say you are a weakling. Indecent dressing and fornication is fun, if you’re not doing it, you need to speak to a psychiatrist. Those are just a few of the beliefs people use to complicate life in this age group. Our grandparents think they have seen the worst that could ever happen in our own time. But perhaps, the next generation will render us awestruck in our own old age.

                Ultimately, dramatic steps should be taken if the youths of today or, as they are often called, the leaders of tomorrow will not miss it completely. Many of us are lost in a world that is not ours. We live in fantasies and chase the shadows of reality. But governments, our parents and the elders of our societies must be involved in curbing this evolution. In nurturing the youth, the truth must be spoken and remarkable examples are necessary. Our leaders must strive to show good examples to the youth. If the youths have no heroes to emulate in this era, the next era will conjure a wonderful disaster. Misguiding the youths is tantamount to an effective plan for extinguishing the nation’s future. On the other hand, the youths too must accept change and become solution providers. They must be conscious of their roles in a world that is subject to the forces of nature and humanity. If the world will become better, we must all demonstrate individual responsibility concerning the future in thoughts and actions.

        And maybe we should keep learning because we'd never know enough. The easiest way to do that is to build on existing knowledge. Or at least, challenge existing knowledge.

Would You Eat A Dead Whale?

You woke up on a sunny Saturday morning and headed to the beach to have some fun; with splendid imaginations of how wonderful your time in solitude or among friends is going to be. But, on the contrary, you are welcomed by the noxious smell of a dead whale lying on the seashore in the midst of a boisterous crowd. Members of the crowd are not even bothered by the offensive smell of the decomposing mammal. Rather, they are  cheerfully gouging and incising the whale’s meaty flesh with every kind of fathomable cutlery. You were ogling and they too were fitfully staring back; as if to question your lethargic and disparaging stance, "Wouldn't you rather join?".  If you had been there that day, what would you have done? If you had membered among the multitude at the scene in November 2010, what would have been your decision? Let’s create a diorama built on assumptions.

Perhaps, you had gotten there that day and instantly changed your course. You were very shocked to find a dead baby whale at the bar beach. Beyond that, you were surprised that fellow Nigerians like you were their trying to obtain some portions from the "fish." But again, you had thought, "this is Nigeria, a country where some people’s ideals varies at times and strange things may appear like a norm. So, you were disinterested in the whole beach idea and simply returned home.

            Or, upon arriving at the invented abattoir that day, you were nettled by the  butchers' nefarious act. Instead of sighting the minutest portion of the whale meat for a brief examination, you were grossly vexed by the attack perpetrated at the whale’s corpse. You had thought, “This is wrong! Animals too have rights!” The countenance of the feckless whale had moved you so deeply that you had tried to stop the hacking. After all attempts to persuade the police to come over had ridiculously failed, you had hijacked the local harpoon of one the most assiduous whale hunters and lambasted him verbally.  In return, you had received the beating of your life while the other hunters acted deaf and blind to your cry for help.

On a third likelyhood, you had arrived at the scene and joined them in chopping off some free meat. In fact, you had grown so interested and returned home to fetch buckets big enough to cart away extra meat portions. On your way back, you were even nice enough to alert two of your neighbours about the manna from the sea wasting away at the beach: “Baba Wale! Iya Isiaka! Wetin you dey do? Your mates dey beach dey commot free meat. U siddon here dey brush yeye teeth wey never bite meat. Na wa o!” Then, you’d sped off to the street to catch a commercial bike back to your spot at the new abattoir.

            Finally, there are those who were not at the beach that day.  I  rather belong to this group because visiting the beach has not appeared on my agenda for many reasons. If I took a count of my beach trips on one hand, I'd still have spaces. Like the others, I neither perceived the smell of the decaying corpse nor obtained a meat portion for "whale fish" pepper soup. To us and the rest, it is astonishing  that persons of similar tongues could  suddenly develop the ability to eat decaying meat, especially the kind that belonged to a baby whale. A whale is a marine animal which seasoned taxonomists term as a mammal and not a fish the eaters called it. But on a second thought, what won't people do? What cant they eat?

            This is Lagos metropolis; a city where many inhabitants still sleep with half-empty stomachs and a hungry man is perhaps the next disaster to consider after a suicidal terrorist. A hungry man would do anything to quench his hunger; a suicidal terrorist would kill a pregnant woman while she's in labour.  The are both driven by wild emotions. In less virulent but similar fashion, countless youths in the metropolis are driven by dangerous values. They are often found expending more time on futile pleasures and idleness than in working for a living. You never know the extent of a man’s hidden potential for evil and cannot accurately predict his desperation quotient until he is recruited for such. The level of impecuniosity in the city is as high as the number of matured boys who wake up daily to merely pick pockets, exploit commercial buses or simply stand aloof ubiquitously. There are those who work and there are those who work hard to steal their earnings. In the end, everyone claims to want a better life.

            Yet, these are not adequate reasons to feed on a whale. The baby whale whose corpse was abandoned by both the germane government agencies and animal rights initiatives did not die a good death. The members of the crowd who made pepper soup, barbecued meat and vegetable stew out of its corpse are probably awaiting another dead whale. But even if you happened to bear an uncontainable penchant for sea foods, would you join a boisterous crowd to mince meat portions off the body of another mammal?

Why Dogs Cry

         Rover was the second dog we had in my nuclear family. Energetic, frolicking and always up to something, he never allowed a moment of emptiness to have its way. If he was not hiding a bone, he was excavating the earth for one. I still recall having to shovel up sands and stones and garner fatigued tyres to protect the earth from the ecstatic dog’s gymnastic exercises. I have uploaded a couple of videos from Youtube in this post to feed your curiousity on the behavioral pattern of some dogs.

 Now, something was peculiar about Rovers. He was not just a dog; he was a dog’s dog. I observed severally that whenever a car or a train of automobiles blew sirens, Rovers would uprightly extend his head towards the skies and howl like a grieving wolf in the dead woods. Fitfully, he would transit between the lawn and the junk yard as though trying to find a way out of the fenced compound. Initially, I thought he was just trying to be funky or show territorial presence. So, one day, I busted outdoors to shout him down till he obliged and resort to mellowed noises and grumbling. But on a second thought, I realized he was attempting to communicate with the other guy at the remote end and left him alone. He probably perceived someone in danger was trying to get his help or attention. That person or supposed someone was the other guy. What a nice dog Rovers was! He was not human yet his affection for other “people” was deep-rooted.

But have you ever wondered why your dog cries? Or if you don’t own one, do you know why the ones trying to wake up the entire neighbourhood cry at night? Some say, they see ghosts and that if you removed some of the vitreous waste on the tips of their eyes and applied it to yours, you would see what they see. Entities like ghosts, vampires, witches, members of the underworld, etc, would appear to you. Others have screamed out in response, “superstition and white lies!”. Well, I do not know if those holding either claim have been wearing dogs’ eyes to confirm their speculations. But if it’s true, I think you’re better off not experimenting, especially if you are not an ophthalmologist.  That's a word of advice from someone who thinks you shouldn't try it in Africa; except, of course, if you know exactly what you are doing. But most dogs actually cry because they are afraid and want company. Yes, dogs could get scared too. In the midst of whispering winds and humming birds, dogs could pee in their pants. That finally explains why Rovers often jumped at my lanky frame to lick me in the face whenever I had a reason to go outdoors at night. And I often did because of "Up Nepa" or just to tuck our generator in its bed sheets.

As human beings, we sleep at night to recharge our bodies and cool our "engine" (the heart). But dogs have to stay awake and watch in fear. So, they would be glad if you could, at least, walk them out before the night arrives. Most dogs relish this ritual, particularly those left at home all day long. In the absence of activity, almost all dogs find time to sleep during the day. Then in the thick of the night, when trees throw their shadows across the lawn, under the moon’s torch and the breeze forms a wizardly hum, the insomniac dogs are left alone in the dark. Let’s face it, who wouldn’t hallucinate? Even if a ghost does not appear you would believe you have seen one. Dogs have to bear all that while you snore aloud. From the spoken burdens we cannot hear to the pending dangers we cannot see, they keep a lot within their hearts. Yet, in the morning, they run at us and cheer us up. They are faithful, persevering and brave and we should care  about them too. So, when next the night comes and your dog is wide awake and very bored, show him\her some care and offer a pat before you go and snore aloud.

JUST DO IT

If it’s locked up in your heart, open it up
It it’s hooked up in your mind, let it down
If it’s enslaved in your head, let it loose
Don’t mistake a possibility for a ridiculous jargon
No idea is as useless as a rickety lifeless wagon

If it’s an intention, put it down
Never keep it in the dungeon of your brain
A brainchild is about to be born alive
Never cause a still-born by delaying the bringing forth
Nobody gets rewarded for something they wanted to bring forth

You won’t be rewarded for having good intentions
You won’t be awarded for thinking good ideas
It’s what you show as a product that attracts attention
No one would thank the tortoise for having a shell
No one would appreciate the snail for keeping a shell

Don’t let it die in you
... ... ...

We are Men

We are men who fear a God we do not see
We are men who uphold justice at the hospice
We are men, fond of our wives and mothers
We are men, bound by the good of the land

We are men to our fears
We are men by our tears
We are men of our words
We are there for our wards

We are trained by the lamenting needs in the society
We are strained by the needless sufferings in our community
We abstain from the enchanting love of money
We can make money from even the sale of honey

We are men made under pressure
We are men by every humble measure
We are against every human sponsor of Nigeria’s evil show
We are empowered by the God we live to know

But there are men against us
Men who hate righteousness despise us
Men who eat with the devil to escape from us
Men who live with the oracles that war against us

They are men who boast of mammon as their lifeguard
Men, who stand with principalities on the devil’s vanguard
Men, who live in riches at the expense of lives they extinguish
Being men who are too dull to make money by fair means, they languish

They know why electric power must never be reliable
They know why refineries must never be operational
They know why railway transportation must never be resurrected
They know everything except progressive thinking

They are men by their own standards
They are babies by our own standards
They are spared by their lifeguard’s temporal verve
We are men, spared by the mighty God we serve

The Transparent Mind(c)2009.
Ayo Morakinyo is, by all yardsticks, a provoked Nigerian. By God’s grace, he says what he believes and lives what he says. He longs to see a better Nigeria and hopes he does not run of out patience. Alleging that he is a sporadic freak, friends have named him the careless poet-an identity he has modified to the transparent mind.

SENSE OF PURPOSE

We are human beings
We are not dogs
We are not cats
We are not rabbits
So, we should never live like such
We have senses to think
We have senses to choose right
We have senses to cause a change
we have the means to choose right
So, don't let's mess it up!
We are not daft cos we're black
We are not dull cos we're struggling
We are not where we are cos of what we can't do
We are not here because of our worth
So, let's get to work and make some worthy sense!
We could make things better than they are
we could project true wisdom and deep intelligence
We could be the best that we could ever imagine
So, if its imaginable, let's achieve it with our senses!

READING

Once I met a strange man on the street next to mine
I realized that knowledge could be a better resource than a goldmine
For though a mine could bring riches, knowledge attracts wealth

The strange man had the habit of making people wise
In fact, he himself-the strange man- was a habit
A living habit yet, a character of bookworms

He would acquire information and apply them to situations
He would then relay his experience and enlighten others
Indeed, his association with me is an advantage

If you happen to host him, count yourself lucky
For the knowledge of how a thing is created is better than its possession
Just as it is better to learn a trade than to receive a dime

My great friend is called reading
He plies every quiet and serene road to the mind
Have you ever met him?

Morakinyo Ayo.
www.moraks.blogspot.com

The Journey: the depth of confidence

Confidence is not a virtue everyone you meet on your way to destiny will possess.In fact, anyone who has got enough confidence to be themselves picked it up their way up. Many of us, either decided to obtain it through consistent practice or got it into us through some past experiences we've had.

Personally, I feel there's more to confidence than moderate self-esteem or optimum way of thinking. I think it has more to do with knowing who you are , where you're going and how to get there rather than with positive thinking. In fact, in my own opinion, confidence is a value that comes with consistence practice of good habits and characters that help an individual attain a higher level in the hierarchy of goodly personality. Simply put, confidence is being certain that whatever comes your way, you'd always find a honest way out.

We all need it ! Confidence is an essential value we must all possess or at least, endeavour to possess. It takes confidence to overcome storms such as those which life exposes us to.We all need it.We can all have.But, we need to work towards it! Ciao!