In my mind, when all is quiet around me, I can imagine a perfect society. This image is in a place I call The Good.

The image is so clear and bright. I can even see myself and how I fit as an element in a well oiled machine.

Here, in this real world however, people all around me are racing about in their day to day lives, barely aware of the thoughts going through their own minds.

To me, their minds are far away from The Good, down in the dark of a cave, and the thoughts they do see are only shadows cast by things they do not understand. They are not even aware that they are seeing the same shadows over and over again.

Explaining to these people what I see in my mind is impossible, because they cannot even understand the language. They have no patience for it. The only stories they will hear are constructed of the shadows they are familiar with. The same shadows over and over again.

Frustration is knowing that tomorrow the image will be different, because the environment will have changed.

Sadness is knowing that the image seen of myself is not of a person able to explain such perfect images to others.

The only thing I can do is live according to that vision of myself in that light of The Good, and humbly tolerate the abuse of those who would have me abide by their shadows.

To force an image on others, no matter how perfect, is tyranny. To ignore it outright is depression.

My faith is in the fact that, over time, here and there, a few people will see me, notice how I live, and experience a sense of familiarity… as though they may have known me in a dream.