Freedom From The Mind
GLITCH CINEMA Presents,
Freedom From The Mind.
A man wants to leave work.
Then he doesn’t.
This is not confusion. This is honesty. Wanting and not wanting are the same animal wearing different shoes.
His name is not important. Names are just sounds we agree to answer to. His mother gave him one. The world gave him another. He answers to both. He belongs to neither.
The office is on the fourteenth floor. There is no thirteenth floor. They skipped it because humans are afraid of numbers. We count everything then fear what we counted.
He stares at the door.
The door stares back.
Who will blink first.
Another man walks in.
He doesn’t know this man. He knows this man completely. Strangers are just versions of yourself you haven’t met yet.
The new man sits at the desk across from him.
Jealousy rises. This is normal. Jealousy is just love with no place to sit. Jealousy is just the ego saying why not me. The ego is always asking why not me. The ego never listens to the answer.
Why is the new man here.
Destiny. Maybe.
Randomness. Maybe.
The bus was late and the coffee was bitter and his wife said something that morning that made him turn left instead of right. Life is a series of small accidents pretending to be a plan.
Who am I to judge.
The boss walks through.
She doesn’t look at them. She looks past them. She has been looking past people her whole life. This is how she became boss. You rise by learning to unfocus.
She is lonely.
Loneliness is not the absence of people. Loneliness is the presence of a self you cannot share.
Both men like her. Both men will never tell her. This is the human condition. We sit in rooms full of words we will never say surrounded by people we will never reach.
The ferry horn sounds outside.
There are many ferries here. Ferries going nowhere. Ferries going everywhere. Every ferry is a question. Every passenger is an answer that doesn’t fit.
A demon sits in the corner of the office.
Nobody sees it. Everybody feels it. The demon is not evil. The demon is just the part of you that knows the truth and cannot speak.
The demon watches the two men.
The demon watches the boss.
The demon watches the ferries.
The demon is bored. Even demons get bored. Even darkness yawns.
The first man opens his drawer.
Inside is a bottle.
He drinks.
When I am drunk they cannot take my truth.
The alcohol burns. The burn is clarity. For a moment the mind stops lying. For a moment the ego sits down. For a moment there is just breath and the ferry horn and the hum of fluorescent lights and the demon in the corner nodding like yes. Yes. Now you see.
The second man watches him drink.
Jealousy again. But softer now. Jealousy turning into something else. Curiosity. Recognition. Oh. You are also trapped. Oh. You are also pretending. Oh. We are the same animal wearing different shoes.
The boss returns.
She stands between their desks.
She says nothing.
Silence is the only language that doesn’t lie.
The first man offers her the bottle.
She drinks.
The second man watches.
Now they are three people sharing one truth. This is as close to love as offices allow.
The demon stands.
The demon walks to the window.
The demon says the real freedom is freedom from the mind.
Nobody hears it. Everybody hears it.
The ferries keep moving.
The water is dark. The water is also light. It depends on where you stand. Everything depends on where you stand. This is the prison. This is also the key.
The first man wanted to leave work.
Now he doesn’t.
Now he wants to stay.
Not for the job. Not for the money. For this. For the bottle. For the boss who is lonely. For the second man who appeared like a question he didn’t know he asked. For the demon who tells the truth no one wants to hear.
Do I care.
Yes.
But not in the way the mind cares.
The mind cares with claws. The mind cares with hunger. The mind cares to own to hold to keep.
There is another caring.
Caring that lets go.
Caring that expands.
Expand.
The first man closes his eyes.
He is no longer in the office.
He is on a ferry.
The ferry is going nowhere. The ferry is going everywhere.
The second man is beside him.
The boss is beside him.
The demon is steering.
The water is dark. The water is light.
Who am I to judge.
I am no one.
I am everyone.
I am the jealousy and the love.
I am the wanting to leave and the wanting to stay.
I am the drunk truth and the sober lie.
I am the boss who is lonely.
I am the demon who watches.
I am the ferry that never arrives because arriving was never the point.
The point is the moving.
The point is the expanding.
Expand.
Freedom from the mind.
The man opens his eyes.
He is at his desk.
The door is in front of him.
The door stares.
He stares back.
He blinks first.
That is okay.
Blinking is not losing.
Blinking is just the eyes saying I need a break from seeing.
The second man is at his desk.
The boss is in her office.
The demon is in the corner.
The ferries are still moving.
A man wants to leave work.
Then he doesn’t.
This is not confusion.
This is the glitch.
This is the cinema.
This is life.
Expand.
The End That Refuses To End.
