When I lived in Massachusetts 30 years ago, I found myself drawn to books about Robert F. Kennedy, because I was fascinated with the transformation he made after his brother was assassinated. He went from being a bully who went after Communists (among other misdeeds) to becoming a champion of the underrepresented. The quote “make gentle the life of the world” made a permanent impression on me. He said this during the late 1960’s, which was pretty much the last time the working class was a main focus of the Democratic party.
It isn’t enough to be gentle; one must also make gentle. But what does “make gentle” mean? I like to envision it as soul-making, a term coined by the poet John Keats, who said: “Call the world, if you please, the vale of soul-making. Then you will find out the use of the world.” Soul-making became the focus of the work of archetypal psychologist James Hillman, who was nominated for a Pulitzer prize in 1975 for his book on the topic.
Making soul out of life. Finding connections between life and soul. Slowing down and deepening one’s interiority. It isn’t a heroic psychology and isn’t about developing a strong ego. Rather, soul makes the ego feel uncertain and uncomfortable.
Which brings me to madness. Hillman says one should let a little bit of madness in every day, so that one doesn’t go literally mad. He said for some people that means having a drink after work every day. For him it was expressing iconoclastic ideas. He also said that psychotherapy should help one “discover one’s madness, one’s unique spirit.”
The phrase “a gentle madness” popped into my head recently as I contemplated blowing the dust off my Facebook timeline and finally posting on it somewhat regularly as a way to let in my own madness. The phrase sounded familiar. I googled and was reminded this is the title of a book from 1995 about book collecting. My gentle madness isn’t about that, but collecting the insights I read in books is part of it.
By the way, I like the irony of posting this today, the first day of Mercury retrograde (and Halloween, no less), which will continue for the next few weeks. Even people who don’t know what their moon and rising signs are often know about Mercury retrograde and the communication breakdowns that can accompany it. Hopefully that will add to the madness.
