Re: madness and creativity

well here i am a couple of years late, but i thought better late than never. I was very intruiged by the disucussion on madness and creativity. I don't think that madness is necessary to creativity or vice versa, however I see it in a simple light for it always happens to me.
i'm a psychologist but i have a great interest in art and poetry. The most interesting paintings i did were those after the death of a close family member. And i once produced about 10 poems one after the other at a time when i thought i was suffering from acute depression and extreme confusion...maybe even a state of madness. I was surprised and often amazed others...at times of happiness and serenity i produced nothing and felt no need to paint or write.
I never considered madness a cause or prerequisite for creativity, their correlation is strong yet it represents -as sophia mentioned- a healing process. The person is in a state of confusion and over flowing with emotions that have to be reassembled and dealt with ...put to use even. And that's when the person is at his peak in creativity. when a person is at turmoil with him/herself, he/she need to find a container to pour into. however when there is peace there is nothing to pour.
this is my personal non-clinical opinion
Basma.

Replies:

Re: madness and creativity, by Chris Jordan, 8/20/99

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