Mind Sickness

Eccentricity is the acceptable face of the creative. We would never visit an asylum to look into the eyes of the patients. Although we might find some of the behavior interesting we would not label it as art. The truth is, how can we tell when we are looking at the symptoms of mental sickness?How do we know that we are not looking at the last foot-step out of creative thought and the first foot-step into pathological thought. In chapter 9 we are given many examples of artists who did a triple long jump over the line between creativity and psychosis. For example: French poet Arthur Rimbaud, his book Une Saison en Enfer is loved by most, is a foot print of his leap into madness. The book is great and I consider it a work of art but the truth is, he was simply documenting his painful thoughts. Much like Jim Morrison's Wilderness, The American Night, The lords and The New Creatures. We get to experience how the creative process may turn into psychotic ones.