Fur In The Paint

The best you can hope for in this life is that your delusions are benign and your compulsions have utility. - Scott Adams

When I first read this from artist Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert cartoon. it kinda sent a bunch of my synapses firing. I found this concept totally intriguing and plan to get a little introspective about it here.

Consider yourself warned.

Discipline vs. Compulsion
When I used to run five miles every day (Hard to believe I know. One year I missed only day. I ran in rain and snow and what have you) I considered myself disciplined and athletic. But if someone felt the need to flip a light switch on and off, or wash their hands repeatedly, it is considered OCD.

There’s a fine line between crazy and entrepreneurial.

If you bark at the moon to make it go away, you are considered crazy.

But if you start a business for which there is less than a 5% chance of success, you are considered an entrepreneur.

- Scott Adams

Genius vs. Insanity
There’s a fine line between genius and insanity. And it’s only a matter of degrees (or perhaps perceptions) that define one from the other. An artist who creates into the wee hours jacked up on coffee, booze or in my case diet Coke, until they collapse in exhaustion may be viewed as passionate and brilliant. But take that same person and have them creating something like a bomb shelter or something viewed as having no real benefit is seen as crazy.

To split this distinction even finer. An artist who paints traditional art of landscapes or florals (or say critter paintings) is seen as normal. I mean these are normal things to paint and normal to have hanging on your wall. But when an artist paints dark images or uses something macabre in their work their sanity is pulled more into question.

I know several artists whose work is dark or weird. One of them is one of the funniest, happy people I know. They use art as a way to get the craziness and chaos out of them. Whereas, I use art to connect with critters in a new way. But also, it’s a way to distract myself from the craziness and chaos around me.

So what do you think?
Where’s the line between crazy and genius drawn? How about between passionate or compulsive?