M is for Madness (The A to Z guide to creative genius).

M is for Madness.

They say that there’s a fine line between genius and madness. They also say that with the moniker of being an artist, comes the added assumption that there will most likely be a little fuzz of craziness around the edges. They also say (Jeez they sure do say an awful lot!!!), that out of all the zodiac signs, the highest percentage of both creative geniuses as well as folk in asylums, are Aquarians! Ermmm…..!!

Mental health.

This is no laughing matter.

I don’t know whether being born with certain inclinations, sensibilities, and tendencies towards sensitivity and observing the world through a different language, gives creative folk an edge. Yes, certainly this heightened sense of seeing and feeling creates a response in artists that can be transformed into great works of beauty and humanity. Artists (and I include all of the arts in this word), are hardwired from birth it seems, to make meaning from the matter of life. And this indeed can become not just a matter of life, but a matter of life or death.

The arts are healing. Full stop. And you don’t have to be an artist to be affected by this. We all have had experiences I’m sure that have created fundamental shifts in our thinking and emotional bodies whilst being engaged with the arts: a piece of music; a poem; a dance piece; a painting. There is a sacredness to art that may be part of the urgency to create, consciously or otherwise, something…