Thought of the Day: “We all go a little mad sometimes.” — Psycho

October 5, 2025

Madness is a word we usually avoid. It sounds dangerous, unhinged, like something that happens to “other people.” But the truth is, Alfred Hitchcock’s classic film Psycho gave Norman Bates a line that hits closer to home than we’d like to admit: “We all go a little mad sometimes.”

And don’t we? Maybe not in a way that lands us in a thriller, but in the everyday cracks that life carves into us.

Madness can look like pacing the kitchen at midnight, staring into the glow of the refrigerator light as if it holds the answers to your existential crisis. It can sound like snapping at your kids because you haven’t slept, or cursing at the Wi-Fi router like it understands your pain.

The point is: madness doesn’t always mean losing control of reality. Sometimes it means reality is just heavier than usual, and your shoulders weren’t built for that much weight all at once.

I know for me, the moments I feel closest to “madness” aren’t when something catastrophic happens, but when small, everyday stresses stack too high. Missed deadlines, a sink full of dishes, the guilt of not being present enough for my kids. One little thing topples, and suddenly I’m muttering under my breath like a character no one remembers in the credits.

But here’s what I’ve learned: letting myself admit those moments, naming them instead of pretending I’m perfectly composed, takes away their power. If I can laugh at the fact that I once slammed the dryer door shut just to “teach it a lesson,” I can also forgive myself for being human.

The “little mad sometimes” is actually what keeps us grounded. It’s a release valve. A reminder that the perfect composure we try to project isn’t sustainable or even real. And the more we normalize that wobble, the less alone we all feel in the struggle.

So maybe instead of hiding it, we lean into it. The peanut-butter-at-midnight version of madness might just be the most honest glimpse of ourselves.

🧠 Read the full blog post where I explore this Thought of the Day and the Question of the Day

✨ Browse the full Thought of the Day archive here →

✉️ Receive These Thoughts Daily

Start each day with a moment of meaning.

Sign up for the daily email.

👉 Join here.

💬 Share Your Interpretation

How does this thought hit you today?

Feel free to share it or just carry it quietly through your day.