Masochism








It appears that masochism and other contortions of the human spirit can be seen from a different angle, that of resiliency---the ability to stretch like copper into the fine threads of speech, or be beaten endlessly like gold. The human spirit is ingenuously dissimilar from that of animals in its doublejointedness---the ability to intellectually as well as emotionally justify its surroundings. It is our ability to rationalize---to perhaps overcompensate---that distinguishes us, not our laughter. That is why we thrive. The human being is like other animals who will remain beside a sadistic owner; we too will soon have a domesticated sub-species. No matter how absurd or saddening the situation may appear to us, the individuals who live within them have acknowledged a new realm of sense, an alternate physics--the absurd ceases to be absurd, the vicious becomes routine, miracles proliferate.

Within these new borders, they again, attempt to stand upright and seek their individual happiness. Suicide, in this frame of explanation is merely the stubborn refusal to adjust to a new set of circumstances. Life has entered a new phase and they refuse to discard what has hitherto passed for common sense.


There is a difference between meekness and resiliency for it is not the meek but the abused who will survive in times of mutual famine or war. Their endurance will be reinterpreted as superhuman. They are impervious to daily pain, yet retain all the acuity needed for survival. Perhaps the only thing they lack is an actual reason to live. That is good, that is how it should be. Life should not be lived for any other reason than its immediate texture. It is when we begin to look for justifications or reasons that life loses its raw intensity and becomes a vehicle for our desires and, invariably, our despairs.

If we sense, we merely suffer, if we reason, we despair, if we rationalize, we survive. At all costs, including our sanity, we must avoid despair.

Therefore, if one is to become resilient, one must suffer, not simply physically, but mentally. All forms of abuse must be confronted, overcome. All taboos, all fears, all beliefs. Even origin, the crux of religion and parenthood, must be utterly torn down, snuffed out. 
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