Today, my psych professor was lecturing on schizophrenia. Now, I've always thought abnormal psych was somewhat fascinating, but schizophrenia really takes the cake in fascinating material. She was talking about a symptom of disorganized schizophrenia commonly known as "word salad," which is just what it sounds like. Grammatically correct sentences that nevertheless make absolutely no sense whatsoever. I used the example she gave us as the title for this post.
I've heard of word salad before (I've even had a conversation with a severe ADHD sufferer that reminded me of the symptom; she went from talking about shower heads for her sister to Nazi Germany before I even had time to realize that she had changed subjects). This professor, however, used a description that I have never heard before; she said that the sentences are often somewhat poetic. And when one thinks about it, it fits. Some of the best poetry is somewhat nonsensical (Lewis Carroll, anyone?), but is still beautiful in its own way. It just takes some abstract thought to wrap one's mind around it.
And that started me thinking; why do art and madness always seem to go hand in hand? What is it about the human psyche that requires a certain inbalance or detatchment to express itself? I even see it in myself; when I really want to get a point across, I just turn my brain off and let my fingers do the thinking. Sometimes I go back over it and correct for grammar, spelling, etc., but most of the time I just leave it raw. And it's kind of a crazy feeling, too.
Which leaves me with the question,
Do art and expression require madness, or
does madness facilitate them?
And why?
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5 comments:
I agree with the guy before! And what i have to say is that u are such a great writter it drives me up a wall! lol i love u! =)) lol
art and madness go together because true art can't be confined by the societal boundaries set forth. so to make true art, you must shirk society to the wind. Yes there are talented people who can create artistic things that are good members of society, but the majority of them know that true art won't keep them fed.
"Madness is terrific I can assure you, and not to be sniffed at; and in its lava I still find most of the things I write about. It shoots out of one everything shaped, final, not in mere driblets, as sanity does."
-Virginia Woolf
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