Insane Ramblings

"Keep the big door open,
everyone will come around.
Why are you different;
why you that way?
If you don't get in line
we'll lock you away..."

~"Typical Situation" by DMB

I guess I'm sitting here today crazy and pondering. My "unhealthy" mind is whirling with ideas and questions ~ wondering just who defined sanity in the first place and how I became part of the "insanity."

There are so many things in life that we just blindly accept, like the fact that the sun is out at day and the moon comes out... well whenever she wants to, frankly. We take for granted that up is up, and down is down, and that people will always find something to disagree on ~ even stupid things ~ like which direction is the best. We teach our children that there is a big world out there and that it's important to "play nice" with others and we take for granted that they learn this. Unfortunately for us, a lot of our children are watching us, so they don't.

And this fact leads me to wonder what else we take for granted without even realizing it should be questioned. (Anyone who knows me has come to expect this sort of questioning from me ~ it's the rebel that I've learned to embrace within.) How do we know that society's (and that's any society in which you are a part: geographically, philosophically, chronologically, etc.) views on any given topic are the correct ones?

Now, I'm gonna let me finish here, but I just wanna say (thank you, Kanye) that before you all start spouting religious morality and scriptural references ~ or textbook answers based on psychological "research" ~ as to the validity of particular views or values, realize that your arguments no longer mean anything to me. That's the entire point I'm trying to make here. What human decided that their particular interpretation of the events and observations of the world around them (or of scripture for that matter) was the one that we all needed to use as the standard?

Being a creative person, I know a lot of creative people. We tend to find one another. We're drawn to one another. Why? Because, regardless of what anyone wants to say or believe, we've been cast out from society. Creative types see the world very differently than everyone else. We see the world as it could or should be, rather than what is. We're idealists, and visionaries. This is not to say we're the only ones; I know a lot of idealists and visionaries who don't think of themselves as artists. And that's okay, but I'm talking about artists for one reason: Show me one of them that isn't "depressed" or diagnosed (or struggling along undiagnosed) with another psychological "disorder."

Why?

Is this because there is something inherently wrong with our minds and how we think? Is there something in the creative mind that is just plain unhealthy? If so, are we created by God (or however you believe you came to be) this way? And why? I don't think that God (who is LOVE according to my beliefs based on, not only scripture, but observation and experience in my life) would sentence anyone to that type of broken existence ~ not when (S)He is the Ultimate Creator.

No, I honestly believe that the reason we're depressed, or however else you want to label us, has more to do with us struggling to fit into a society that wants to put everything in boxes. We're only accepted as "right" when we do that. But we artists don't like boxes ~ unless we're making something new and different out of them. So, when we step outside of them, we're labelled "crazy," or "psychotic," or "manic" even (particularly if we start really passionately following what we believe with conviction). Possibly even "ADD," or at the very least, "inconsistent," if our beliefs and our passions are ever~expanding, as creative types are prone to do. We're ever~seeking the next great thing. It's how we're wired. Is that wrong? And by whose standard is this determined?

We break, not because our minds are wrong, but because we try so hard to fit into the categories and regulations created by the world we live in. Because we aren't generally organized enough to make our thoughts known in a logical fashion. So we express our views with artistic words or images, and our thoughts and ideas are rarely understood by logical minds and often misinterpreted.

The tortured artist isn't just a stereotype; it's the world that I and most of my friends live in.

But then, what do I know? I'm crazy.