I was Zen, and now I want to punch someone in the face

The Wrath of Can't

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I’m writing about the Seven Deadly Sins. Previously:

• Original Sin: Christianity’s Biggest Lie

• What I Learned About Lust From a Monk, A Marriage and a Breakdown

• Gluttony for Punishment: How three cakes a day saved my sanity

Paid subscribers can join the Seven Deadly Sins Writing Challenge: a therapeutic practice to rid yourself of your baggage through the art of spewing words onto the page. No priests required! Your writing challenge post will arrive in your inboxes on Tuesday.

Have you ever battered someone around the head with a hard object? A friend of mine did. It was one of the scariest moments of her life. The someone was her husband, and the object was a horse-riding hat, which she was holding by the straps.

No thought. No decision. Blind rage picked up the nearest object and made it a weapon. A few seconds of violence, followed by horror at herself. Her husband? Weirdly, he laughed. There was a satisfaction there. He had goaded her and won.

This incident is …