ɪ
same thing over and over again and
expecting different results.
And beside the definition, this picture:
Every day I rise to accomplish the tasks before me. I empty the dishwasher and at the end, a feeling of accomplishment. I stand back and admire the cavernous appliance, thinking that next time I awake the job will be done for me, mysteriously by some nocturnal elf.
I sweep and vacuum the floors, thinking with some pride that I have set the rooms aright. I've spit shined the floors and once and for all the floors are clean. And, of course, will stay that way.
Frustrated at the peaks of laundry I must summit before entering my bathroom, I put in a few loads, washing, drying, and then to folding. Finally there is no more to do.
The cupboards are fully stocked and dinner is just a few ingredients away. My family is fed another day, satisfied bellies make for satisfied kids. Another to do is done.
At the end of the day, I breathe a sigh of relief that I have made it through another day. The house and it's inhabitants are cleaned and cared for and at last I can rest knowing that, having given my best, it is enough.
Yet I awaken to a very different world. I scratch my head, wondering if I only imagined the clean home of yesterday, and begin to question my sanity. How is it that the same duties await me again today? No nocturnal elves on hand, only diurnal creatures who leave their trail of clothes and crumbs behind each step they take.
So, I do the only thing to be done. I do it all again, still harboring some fantasy that perhaps this time things will stay the way I right them. I do the same thing over and over and over and over again, expecting that perhaps this time things will stay finished, fixed, and flawless.
Your honor, at this time I would like to enter my insanity plea.
But wait, a moment please for my defense.
I pose no threat to others, I assure you. Oddly enough, the monotonous repetition I cycle viciously is for the good of others, for the welfare of those within my keep. What appears to be incompetency of mind is quite honestly a competency not rare in many a mother. I understand the responsibility I have been chosen to undertake and yes, even so there are times I must needs call on every capacity of my intelligence to remind myself that all of this is not for naught. The dizzying spin of perceived triviality actually renders me a very capable woman and produces an environment of security and comfort wherein my charges may flourish and become.
While my behavior may appear trite and purposeless, perhaps it is only because you are viewing my success in days. Although I realize that what I do may not shake the foundations of the world today, let me assure you that what I do today is laying tomorrow's foundation in the lives of my children, the effects of which will continue to rumble long after I am gone.
So, yes, your honor. To the charge of insanity by this definition, I plead guilty.
Guilty, for reasons of an insane passion and crazy love for those within my keep.
