Treasures in a Haunted House
It’s likely that we’ll inhabit more than one house in our lifetime. Yet there is one we can never leave. More crucial than a reliable structure to live in, I’m referencing the frame of mind we inhabit. This place needs our full attention. I say this because after years in these surroundings we’ll probably face a build-up of dust. And if we’re careless we’ll find ourselves tripping over things that haven’t been properly put away. We can find ourselves in a place we no longer recognize. We can even hear noises we can’t explain. Everyone’s sanctuary is visited by these shadows and imps at some point. Even the most rational among us. Still, there are steps we can take to avoid a haunted mind.
First let’s asses the layout of our inner abode. Then the varied and bedeviling spooks making themselves at home in its chambers.
Since everybody loves goodies, let’s start with our kitchen. We need to be alert in this area. Consuming harmful products can physically deform our body. That will retard its natural functions in the process. Comparatively, the mind has similar inputs and results related to its diet. Here’s what I mean by that. It’s never good to indulge too many poor quality or insignificant notions and impressions. Tasteless pop culture and manipulative propaganda for example, retards our thinking in a way that makes goblins out of us all. So, beware of the monster making itself at home here.
It is gluttonous. It feeds on anything that makes it feel it has a god given right to think the dysfunctional way that it does. It has wobbly knees making it hard to stand on its own without such support. It has a big round belly full of waste. It has wide and eager eyes, always looking for but never finding true friends. It has a great big mouth that speaks falsehoods and is always mistaken. Lastly, it has a thick layer of flesh over its tiny ears so that it never hears the truth. It guards its ignorance with its life.
People entranced by this beast are marked by a faddish devotion to its silly pop culture. In turn they are divided among themselves by class, sex, ethnicity, and politics. They feed on those variations and develop preferences and opinions in place of insight and justice. So, it’s important that you think for yourself. Simply put, choose the healthiest foods for thought and you’re free of the beast in the kitchen of your forever home. Let’s move on.
Next, we go to the living room. Disembodied souls are gathered here. They're partying while the master of the house is away. There’s plenty of poison to go around: Fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, Johnnie Walker, Ecstasy. You’ve never seen such an orgy. These lost souls are really asking important questions of their gods. But they’re settling for solutions contained in bottles, powders, pills, and needles. None of these individuals are truly familiar with the others they’re partying with. They only recently met in the kitchen. There they had their first fling with irresponsibility and recklessness.
As they gorged themselves on the charms of popular culture their minds became lazy. An appetite for solutions resulted in a requirement of illusions. And of course, they had already been trained to overindulge. So, now they’re lawless and the house is in an uproar. They’re breaking valuable things with no thoughts of replacing them. They cannot see beyond their own noses. The nicest thing you can call them is ‘unrealistic.’ Anybody concerned with the sanctity of their faculties need not join their party. Let’s leave them where they are. Their get-together will end abruptly, and explosively, leaving them empty, impoverished, and half dead. After that we’ll clean up the living room.
On the second floor, we find the master bedroom. When we open its door we notice an attractive person seated on the edge of the bed. If you’re a woman, this person is a man representing your past romances. Since I’m a man, I’ll say this person is a woman who combines the attractive attributes of every woman my male reader has ever dated. She is naked. She’s eyeing you seductively with her bright, moist eyes. She repeatedly flashes her eyelashes. She’s showing you an inviting grin. But look very closely.
She only represents our own perversion by way of a continuous, half-witted pursuit of pleasure. She’s another phantom. Actual flesh, yes. But intangible and transient since the fling will not last. It will soon be as if it never was. If we entertain her for too long, we’re dumbly submitting to a hypnotist. A disposition that can blind us to the more important purposes and duties of men. So, spend some time here if you’d like. But remember this room is not the entirety of your home. You may want to see what else awaits you on the next level.
At last, we climb the stairs to the attic. The room is brightened as the sun shines through a window. Through that window we see whirling patterns of majestic birds in flight. The sky is wide open, blue, and full of promise. Silence and calm prevail. This tranquil, optimistic atmosphere forces reflection on the past, the present, and of course the future. Anything you can imagine is possible here. You’ve earned this spot in your life. Stay awhile. Gazing about, you’ll see cherished photos and memorabilia in boxes. There are piles of books to be read here too. There are fabulous paintings on the walls. Glittering jewels and gems are scattered about. It seems it would take forever to sift through all the treasure. But as you breathe it all in, a striking phantom materializes before you.
This entity has two faces. One is disfigured and sobbing, the other grinning and singing a sweet song which sounds vaguely familiar. It’s body is human. The only difference is that it is covered in scales. It spins around before you, constantly showing you one face then the other as it does. Its sweetly singing face is that of knowledge. Its sobbing ugly face symbolizes ignorance. It becomes clear that the entity will not stop its dizzying twirl unless you embrace one or the other, knowledge or ignorance. The challenge is that the two are interchangeable. One becomes the other without warning as they blur by while they spin. Even if you choose knowledge you’ll notice the appeal of ignorance: The more you know, the more you realize you have a lot to learn.
If you mistakenly choose ignorance (how else would you have made such a decision?), you’ll be guided back down the stairs. There, you’ll find yourself with that gluttonous beast in the kitchen or those self destructive souls in the living room. But take advantage of your time at the pinnacle of the house to master your view from the top. Channel the potential here. Take advantage of the photos, the memorabilia, and the books to reflect on the past, articulate the present, and imagine the future. Fill your home with rationality and mindfulness. These jewels are yours to keep.
That double-faced entity will recognize that you’ve busied yourself with something other than its puzzle. Your indifference will grant you a charm to make you irresistible in its eyes. But effectively, you will have made an obvious and correct choice. The phantom will stop changing appearances. The face of knowledge will recognize you as one of its own. It will smile upon you just as the sun shines in through the window. Your house will be filled with the brightest of lights. In the intensity of its power, everything contrary to its nature will be vanquished as if they were never there.
I’ve had this experience in my own inner abode, so I’m certain of it. Now, all I have to do is use the bathroom. But I should admit I’m nervous. Why? I still have some work to do. The last time I went in the bathroom something happened that I can’t explain. When I approached the toilet, the lid popped open on its own. Then an angry voice yelled out, “I’m not taking any more of your shit!”
If you need someone to help you make sense of things right now,
you can always call the Mental Health Hotline at 866-903-3787. Or if things are really dark, you can find help at 988.