The Benefits of Restlessness and Jagged Edges

When you were a kid, did you ever have your mom or dad or a teacher turn to you, just as you were REALLY ENJOYING something, and tell you, “Settle down, you’re getting TOO excited!” Well, I did, and I believed for years, that expressing my PASSION about something (usually music) was wrong, or harmful in some way. Granted, we all need to learn “correct” social behavior, but I’m talking about something deeper …

So, this morning, when I heard a professor of psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Kay Redfield Jamison, on National Public Radio, begin with these words, she really caught my ear:

“I believe that curiosity, wonder and passion are defining qualities of imaginative minds and great teachers …”

I was reminded of the old myth: artists have to be crazy to be creative.

Gratefully, I haven’t suffered from manic-depression (or bi-polar disorder) as Jamison confesses she has, but I do know what it is to have mood swings and to work with creative people who experience them pretty regularly. It’s a relief to find this resource. Click on this link to read more…

NPR : The Benefits of Restlessness and Jagged Edges

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