Crazy Creative

New research shows a link between mental health and creativity; researchers have shown that the dopamine system in healthy, highly creative people is similar to people with schizophrenia.

Crazy in our society is not being able to contend with or fit into a very tight mold; any deviation from proper conduct is deemed aberrant, requiring fixing. Even creativity is constrained by the necessity of making one’s art palatable for the public.

Serotonin and dopamine are mood enhancing brain chemicals that react favorably with hallucinogens like LSD and magic mushrooms. The state of being high or creative mimics the delirium of crazy people.

The first prophets as recorded in the Book of Shmuel/Samuel calls them Mashuganim/Crazies because they would travel throughout the land playing songs and being in revery–during prophecy they would tear off their clothes as not to have anything between themselves and the Creator. Creative people in this modern time are similar to the prophets of old.

Generally, human behavior is not considered crazy–just the many faces of human nature. My teacher related the following story: A woman once complained to a rabbi that her son was crazy because he eats pig and spends the night with strange woman; no, said the rabbi, your son would be crazy if he ate women and spent the night with strange pigs.