I’ve decided that the safest and scariest place in the whole world is your own mind. The musings of your conscious and subconscious fusing together to create a mess of anxiety and complexity. Maybe it’s dumb, but I often find myself thinking about that episode of Spongebob Squarepants in which Spongebob says, “at least I’m safe inside my mind" because he realizes that no one can intrude in on his thoughts. Inside your mind, you can think and believe anything you want with little to no interruptions.
I take comfort in knowing that my mind’s inner workings never have to be shared aloud. There is endless freedom inside one’s mind. No one can ever force you to not think YOUR thoughts. But, even as I write this seemingly positive stance on the human mind, I am thinking of a negative counter argument.
You do not have to share your thoughts aloud — but that also means they could eat you alive.
You cannot be forced to not think your thoughts — but part of this freedom could mean having harmful thoughts.
You can believe anything you want to with no interruptions — but we need our beliefs to be challenged in order to have them develop. Isn't that the only way to form a strong opinion? To have your stance challenged and be forced to rethink it? You cannot mentally grow if you are not introduced to new and opposing knowledge.
So what happens when the one safe residence we can never be evicted from is also the labyrinth you cannot escape? What happens when uninterrupted thoughts become unspeakable actions?
I am grateful to be a fully functioning adult with the ability to form my own opinions and live by the standards that I have mentally created for myself, but I am very aware that my mind can turn on me. It plays tricks on me in the night time, telling me that the grip I have on my emotions is not strong enough, that the standards I have set are useless, etc.
The only place that no other person has full access to is your mind, but if no one else has access, how would someone save you when you cannot find your way out?