The Transformational Journey of Sad and Mad

Like love, travel makes you innocent again. Diane Ackerman – The Moon by Whale Light (1991)


Sad and Mad have decided to take a vacation together. They have collected brochures that highlight exotic locations and have mutually agreed that it would be enriching to visit a place that exists beyond the irritations, resentments, grudges, and upsets that feed their day-to-day attitudes towards life.

They are going to visit the Land of Lightheartedness. Neither of them are seasoned travelers but they have done enough research to be reasonably assured that they are going to enjoy themselves.

They thought it would be a timely idea to take a break from the people and events that currently define their present experience of themselves as “same, old” Sad and Mad. They will start their journey by leaving their past injuries home and detaching from all the unresolved situations, and upsetting issues that normally define how they think and feel about their lives.

They want to escape from being trapped in rigid thought patterns and hard-hearted, defensive feelings, which is their habitual way of trying to stay in control and invulnerable.

This is an adventure of a lifetime. Since both are experts in their specialty of evoking and elevating the experience of sad and mad, they decide to commit to leaving all of their normal business clothes that are fashioned from critical, punitive judgments and uncontrolled outbursts of anger and tears, at home. They begin packing their suitcases with healing and powerful medicines of patience and generosity. They carefully include a healthy dose of grace and a generous supply of compassion that will see them through the entire trip.

They have decided to channel their emotions by refraining from punitive mutterings that lead to Mad acting resentful and critical and Sad retaliating by being passive aggressive and pitiful.

Mad intends to replace her famous arched eyebrow and pursed lips with random smiles and soft, kissable lips, while Sad suspects that his best bet is to dust off his curiosity and put a spring into his normal hesitant shuffle, as they courageously drop one obsession after another.

A few days into their vacation, the heart hurts and worries that normally limit their ability to enjoy their lives begin to fade into the background. They are relishing their freedom as the new landscapes continuously spark creative thinking, instead of the old, boring dramas of their past.

To their surprise, this new Land of Lightheartedness is effortlessly allowing the old, upsetting emotions surrounding past memories, to finally rest, settle down, and relax.

Mad is diligently developing the skill of refusing to summon up the fiery material, and her reward is that she is actually unwinding and relaxing instead of whipping up a frenzy of repetitive thoughts, pictures, or emotions of the negative kind. Sad is filled with a newfound happiness as he distances from his regimen of swimming copious laps in the cesspool of morbid and muddled hurts, slights and mishaps that have kept his misery muscles tight and taut.

They bask in the sunshine of budding forgiveness. They are opening, allowing and accepting the healing fruits of their conscious decision to cease nursing resentments and arguing for their limitations.They are becoming the deciders, instead of the victims. They finally realize that they have the power to choose when to forgive and how to do it. Their new creative life is being birthed.

They immerse themselves in the culture of Lightheartedness. They choose to invest in a few blanket pardons. They indulge themselves in new delights and pleasures. This results in their being able to easily elevate and expand their thinking so much that they can clearly see that being glad and grateful for their new experiences, leaves them little inclination to wallow in the past.

Sad and Mad have returned from their trip with new vitality, enthusiasm and a zest for living.

The biggest gift from this timely vacation is the newly found wisdom to realize that forgiving means giving up being cold, removed and disconnected in favor of inviting Lighthearted and Relaxed as gracious and vital additions to a happy and healthy life.