Human Becoming
Human Becoming is a weekly podcast that explores the ins and outs, the good, the bad and the ugly, of what it means to be(come) human. From tackling shame to embracing our anger, this podcast aims to bring you closer to yourself - to what experiences have shaped you and your story, and how you can embrace your own humanity. This podcast is hosted by Tumi Moloto, a human (and healer) becoming, a passionate historian and storyteller, a non-binary, queer African, and a lover of humanity. In their time here on earth, they hope to show humanity that there is another way forward, that moves us away from disconnection, capitalism and collective trauma, towards belonging, compassion, and collective healing. This podcast is the story of their rumbles with the complexity of their own humanity. As they take you along on the journey of their becoming, they hope that the stories shared will give you greater insight into yours.
Human Becoming
a meditation on madness
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Insane: In a state of mind which prevents normal perception, behavior, or social interaction.
Mad: Mentally ill; insane.
Sane: Of sound mind; not mad or mentally ill.
These are the definitions of insanity, madness, and sanity according to our dear friend and resource - Google. In this week's episode I am reclaiming the categories of insanity and madness and seeing what they might have to offer us. This is an episode about what it means to 'go mad', and it is told through the story of my personal descent into madness. This episode was inspired by my own confusion around what these categories of being mean for me, and what they mean for our world, and in it I share my ultimate conclusion that insanity is one of the most human responses to living in a world as wounded as ours.
This is a story about walking off the beaten path, about understanding and embracing madness, and ourselves, about finding new ways of looking at old, or known, 'problems', and ultimately - about liberation. The questions that I pose are: How have people, from various walks of life, interpreted the phenomena of madness? What aspects of our society might cause us to 'go mad'? Are there more empowering ways of understanding madness, and the gifts that it might offer our world?
As always, this story is about what it means to be(come) human - in our fullness and complexity. Whether you have danced with madness or not, I believe that this episode will help you to think differently about a phenomenon that, in one way or another, touches and shapes all human lives.
Enjoy, and take good care!