I wonder if being sane means disregarding the chaos that is life, pretending only an infinitesimal segment of it is reality.

I also understand that you have to lie to yourself to survive in a bad marriage, you have to delude yourself if you want to carry on in this life.

[He says the ordeal led to] denial, repression, accommodation and disassociation ... subconsciously repressed.

I don't like denial. I don't like repression.

I wonder whether there is such a thing as a sense of individuality. Is it all a facade, covering a deep need to belong? Are we simply pack animals desperately trying to pretend we are not?

...What happens is of little significance compared with the stories we tell ourselves about what happens. Events matter little, only stories of events affect us.