Fxck up v.s. normal: Quotes from Madness

Some quotes from Madness by Marya Hornbacher.

"My new therapist tells me that I don't know how to live without crisis. "  P. 249

"I've been a total fuckup.  I couldn't do a single basic thing that normal people do every day without falling apart or having a nervous breakdown.  Normal people just do things.  It's not a big deal."  P. 250

Who and what are normal people?

The therapist...

"See, the thing is, you've got this idea of normal that's not normal.  Normal people don't do everything  perfectly.  You don't have to do everything perfectly to be normal. "  P. 251

Then, what does it mean to be normal?

 "Your problem is that you're so used to being in crisis that your whole perception of yourself is as a fuckup, a permanent fuckup, never someone who gets to not be a fuckup, so you have to torture yourself and hate yourself just to be as good as everyone else.  You're having a hard time realizing that you're not a fuckup anymore."  P. 251

"But if you're not trying to be perfect, then how do you know if you're doing things right?"

"The best I can do is sometimes completely fail,"  I say...... "The rest of us do it all the time."

Bewildered, I wonder out to my car.