I understand rage. I believe many of us do. Within us, probably within more people than you think, roams an animal caged by our inability to control the beast. The beast called rage. I imagine this can take many forms and stem from more causes I dare to consider, but I’m reminded that I am not alone by a constant barrage of headlines announcing the untimely passing of people – Whitney Houston is the most recent. Such a tragedy. She fought demons here entire career, attempted to bury them, cage them, in a haze of booze and prescription drugs. I don’t pretend to know here demons, but I know they were there.
Drugs are a common and very dangerous way of dealing with your demons. Off the top of my head, I can blast off a list of famous folks robbed of years because they turned to drugs to quell their beasts – Michael Jackson, Amy Winehouse, Elvis Presley, John Belushi, Marylin Monroe, Jim Morrison, Anna Nicole Smith, Heath Ledger. There are so many more.
And yes, this same tragedy has touched my family. It is horrible. I understand that these demons exist and implore my readers, and those who harbor their own demons, to explore other ways to exorcise your beasts. You can’t simply cast them out or bury them in a drug-induced fog. They will find you. They never really go away.
I personally turn to writing. I find it the best form of therapy and expression one can perform. Any art, really, is a wonderful way to speak without losing your control. My rage finds its way into my fiction sometimes, as is the case with “Master of the Hunt”. It is synonymous, really. The main character, Harrison Dale, deals with major demons. Literally. He is a werewolf who believes he has killed the only woman he has ever loved, and now he’s been kidnapped by men who want to hunt the beast. But Harrison has made a vow – he will never become the beast again. The toll of allowing it to take him is much too great.
As in real life, right? If we allow the beast within us to win, it is akin to death. So please, find better ways to deal with your rage.
I hope you’ll read my novel, “Master of the Hunt“, to explore how I deal with mine.
Nickel Crow 