Wednesday, October 19, 2005

More on depression and creativity

Here is my response to the posted comment below:

Thank you for your comments, and sorry for the delay in my reply. The "fun" part is that I get to sometimes experience the matters that I write about. Hence, the lag time. I liked and agree with what you said - that depression (as well as other "disorders") can be a continual source of creativity and deeper thought. Speaking of which, if you get a chance, I recommend an article I saw recently in Atlantic Monthly concerning a new examination of President Lincoln's battle with depression. Had he not suffered from depression, the outcome of the war may have been different. Thanks for the book idea. I hope you'll return to the blog in the future.

Best wishes,

Lee

p.s. How did you come upon the site?

On Sunday, October 16, 2005, at 09:56AM,

A.B.

Dear Mr Chazen,

I enjoyed your though-provoking post. I think that in our pharmacuetically obsessed society, there is denial of natural human sadness --- and that perhaps depression need not bea "disease" but may be indeed about growth. I am now reading "Where The Roots Reach for Water"(North Point Press) by Jeffery Smith and I highly recommend it. And keep up the good work!

--Posted by A.B. to Right Brain World at 10/16/2005 09:56:01 AM

Saturday, October 01, 2005

Put Something on the Marquee

When I was in the student council in high school, one of my jobs was to publicize school events by putting announcements on the marquee (is that the right spelling?) out in front of the school. On one occasion, with the help of a friend, we put "something on the marquee," on the marquee. I think a total of three people got the joke.

Speaking of things from the past, I just found a bunch of old files from my high school teaching filing cabinet. I used to keep records of the hilarious or ridiculous things students would write or say. Here's a few samples:

"After the bomb was dropped, Japan understood that we were very mad."

Yes, using atomic weapons is a very good way to demonstrate anger. People really know how you feel when you do that.

"Adolph Hitler killed himself by committing suicide."

Personally, I've always found committing suicide to be one of the best methods of killing yourself.

One student was able to morph Ike Eisenhower with Albert Einstein in a clever way by saying "Albert Eisenhower was one of the smartest presidents we ever had," ... or words very similar to this. Man, I miss teaching.