I'm Not Happy. I've Just Adapted.

Here is a connection quote from page 117 (the first page of the chapter).

"Creatives rarely conform to a regular standard. They are 'abnormal,' not only in terms of their personalities, but also in the way they are seen by society."

Hey, that's just like shamans. However, unlike many shamans, who had a near death experience at an early age, some creatives carry physical, mental and emotional burdens with them all their lives.

I think because of this burden, a creative person has a heightened sense of emotions. These emotions easily cut through superficiality, making the creative passionate in seeking some sort of truth about society.

Creatives are often reclusive and not necessarily by choice. They might feel that the world in which they live has let them down. The art they make brings out subtleties in their lives that scream, "Hey world, come on! Catch up with me here for crying out loud." The world never catches up, so the creative turns to his or her work, allowing the work to absorb all aspects of life.

I dislike labeling creative people with words like disease, sickness and illness. This is such a majority rules type name calling because some - routine oriented, never questions life, follows myths and formulas-type person can't keep up with what a creative presents before their eyes. How disease-ridden are these creatives that they can produce a work of art so socially profound that the product can leave its imprint on someone's heart like a car registration sticker? (Have you ever attempted to peel one of those stickers off? They'll make the skin under your fingernails bleed).

The successful creative is our commercial shaman of the Western world. Regardless of how exotic and far-fetched a creative's story about their process is, and regardless of how many "tricks" a shaman plays, these two types of people may be the only honest people on earth. Outsiders from these two personalities don't get it because they don't want to get it. In fact, these people, who disregard shamans and creatives, spend their lives defending themselves against two personalities that are not aggressive. These people can purport to be happy all they want while they spend their time in dead marriages, yell at their kids playing intramural sports and obsess over consensus realities. So, who, exactly, has a disease?

Oh and speaking of dead marriages... We have yet to read or uncover a creative's love-life which is filled with a mess of messy relationships, ending and starting with different people. I think this may be linked to the creative personality as well. Do shamans have successful romantic relationships?

And if creatives are famous for having many failed relationships, I just might be the most creative person any of you blog-writers ever encounter.