Yes, this entry is not going to be true to form, it is far from cheerful. But I wanted to link to two touching expositions of addiction and compulsion from two normally cheerful sources. I list them together because I found them both to be extremely touching and insightful. Whether you suffer from one compulsion or another, yield to cravings you wish you could avoid, or just know what it's like to have to make an effort to gain control over a want that may well harm you, both Craig Ferguson's monologue and Stephen Fry's "Blessay" will hit home very hard. If you are fortunate enough (or, hopefully not, delusional enough) to feel completely untouched by any such affliction, they are both worth careful consideration and respect, and have both earned my sincerest admiration.
The following excerpt is from Stephen Fry's "I Give Up" blog entry:
Imagine that one day someone hit himself lightly on the head with a parsnip. Instead of stopping (for this is a foolish thing to do) he carried on doing it. When he eventually did stop he went about his business but discovered, much to his surprise, that he had a sudden unconquerable urge to hit himself lightly on the head with a parsnip all over again. So he did. And the more he did it, the more he needed to do it. The act of doing it gave him a tiny surge of joy, a little rush of pleasure that had to be elicited, never mind what a twazzock he looked, parsnipping himself on the head all day.
[via YouTube and Stephen Fry's Blog]
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