The Cure for Madness Is Air: Escaping the Circle of Self

Breaking free from the closed mind

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“The lunatic’s theory explains a large number of things, but it does not explain them in a large way.” G.K. Chesterton

We all need something larger than ourselves to remain sane. When we are stuck within the confines of our own little world, we become spiritually contracted — however large our world may seem. When we are trapped inside ourselves, we go mad because, as Thomas Merton put it, “no man is an island.”

We are bigger than we seem. We become ourselves only when we belong to something larger than ourselves. The moment I recognize that I am part of something greater, I finally discover my true self. To be sane is to be larger than you are. Sanity, at its core, is the realization that I am fully myself only when I am part of something larger than me.

All mental health struggles ultimately stem from the torment of being trapped within oneself. When we are depressed, anxious, or consumed by self-doubt or self-hate, our thinking circles in endless loops. We may believe we are analyzing all sorts of scenarios or arguments, but we are replaying the same old tape in our minds. We are prisoners of a single, relentless argument.

As Chesterton puts it, the mind of an insane person always “moves in a perfect but narrow circle.”

“The most unmistakable mark of madness is this combination between a logical completeness and a spiritual contraction.” Orthodoxy

When we are trapped within ourselves, our world is not large enough. We inhabit a universe that is too small for our size. We don’t fit in. We are much greater than the universe that our minds have created. We are suffocating within the confines of our own stifling dungeon.

“If you or I were dealing with a mind that was growing morbid, we should be chiefly concerned not so much to give it arguments as to give it air, to convince it that there was something cleaner and cooler outside the suffocation of a single argument.”

The best remedy for insanity is to start moving — moving out of the small circle our minds have drawn. When you are suffocating, it’s useless to feed the mind with arguments for why it shouldn’t suffocate. They won’t change a thing. The mind will only change when we start moving. Moving out. Moving outward towards air — toward a larger universe that holds more than we can ever imagine.

Any movement beyond one’s small self feels refreshing. By moving outside of our small self we move toward our larger self. We hatch out of our insane world and discover that we are much bigger than we thought. We encompass the world. We start recognizing ourselves everywhere and in all things.

We talk to a friend and recognize our larger self in them. We expose ourselves to new places, new ideas, and new experiences, and realize that the insanity of a self-contrived mental prison is a phantom. The mind is healed by moving beyond the mind. The only way not to go out of your mind is to move beyond the mind — toward the larger mind.

There is a whole world outside of my anxiety, depression, phobias, and low self-esteem. These are all phantoms. Powerful as they may seem, they are a product of a small mind. As we take even a small step out of that confined mind, its walls begin to crumble. When you don’t know what to think — move. Step out into the open air.

We don’t need a reason to change. All we need is to discover that the universe is much larger than we could ever imagine.

“The madman is not the man who has lost his reason. The madman is the man who has lost everything except his reason.” G.K. Chesterton