crazy brilliance

What is it that makes a person lose their minds? Is it the balance between the left and the right brain being a little off-balance? Or maybe a lot off balance? If someone uses only the right side of their brain (or the creative side) without balancing it out by using their left side (or sensible side) are they to go crazy? Are they the ones who appear crazy yet have amazing brilliance in their creativity?

When we were discussing this topic in class I could not help but think of my grandpa. He is an amazing man. He is so smart, funny, and a great story teller. He knows so much about everything...I really do think he is brilliant. But, he does have a side to him that might appear to a stranger as a crazy side. He often times has so much to say, because he knows so much and has no one to tell. I think that his craziness is caused by his loneliness. Also, he fought in World War II and has kept his experiences there to himself. I could never see him as crazy because he is my grandpa and he is amazing. But maybe thats all it is...his usage of his right and left side of the brain is off balance.

In Salman Rushdie's “Harmony of the Spheres”, a short story from his book East, West the main character, Eliot Crane, is suffering from what he calls “brainstorms”. Really, it was episodes of paranoid scitzophrenia. “...he was passive and inert, raging and violent, he was filled with guilt and despair.” (P.128) This is when he is not writing – he seemed better when he was not writing. Maybe this is because once he opens his imagination up for ideas he can't stop imagining.

I think that contributing causes to someone like Eliot Crane who imagines that “...most of his friends were revealed to be agents of hostile powers, both Earthly and extra-terrestrial,” (P.127) are and will forever be unknown. When someone loses their mind it may be from a chemical imbalance, a traumatizing experience, an extremely vivid imagination...who really knows. Its an illness.

When we talk about the “A Balance of Spheres” I believe we are talking about a balance of the right and left brain. A balance of imagination and sensibility. A balance of characters in the story. A balance of all things in our life. Life is a balancing act. I always imagine if I had no responsibilities, how I would just love to travel the world. I would have no money, however, and no security. I have to balance that free-spirit inside of myself with the part of me that yearns for safety, security, stability and a planned future. But the more I lean toward this side, the more I lose that free-spirited person inside of me. Again, life is a balancing act.

I dont think that we as individuals or as a society can restore balance and harmony by doing any certain things. I think that the world is a crazy place and will never be perfectly balanced or in perfect harmony. I also dont think that individuals can obtain a perfect balance or be in perfect harmony. Thats what makes us all different and interesting. That what makes the world interesting. If everyone and everything was in perfect harmony, planet earth would just be a boring place. I think the people who lose their minds, lose them for a reason...and that reason is unknown. Maybe their brilliance that comes from it is beyond what we “normal” people can understand.