The Art Of Being Crazy

Submitted by spookyyank on June 28, 2007 - 10:32am. crazy | humor | Mental Illness

This post was inspired by modelmoms latest entry . The subject here is mental illness vs. crazy.

Last I heard, post traumatic stress syndrome was ranked as a mental illness. Probably for the sake of insurance, but who really cares? What that means to me is that I'm now classified as mentally ill. I prefer crazy.

Now, this is in no way to offend those who love or are stricken with a mental illness. It's serious stuff. I dated a guy who is bi-polar years ago and could see the stress his family lives with. I guess what this is about is those of us who prefer to see life from a diferent perspective.

One of the lines from that tv show 'Designing Women' that still rings true was - "In the south we don't hide our crazy people. In the south you don't ask if there are crazy people in your family. You ask which SIDE they're on!" And, it's true. Sure, what that really means is the eccentrics, but hey - if it walks like a duck.......

For me, I just prefer to see the interesting things that life has to offer. It doesn't work for all things, all the time. But, when I'm in a situation - er, like being forced to drive through a heard of cattle, praying that they don't walk in front of my car or RAM my car - I just ask myself; "don't you feel lucky that at some point you'll have this moment to rank up there with all the other crazy situations you've been in????"

And, trust me, there's been A LOT! Some small - like the memory of watching a grown man do air guitar to Celine Dion (yes, that was in a gay bar!), coming out of a bar in New York and joining a pro-choice rally that happened to spring up, or meeting a guy in an elevater that lead to choice seats at the Eric Clapton concert! Or, what about the time I got really drunk with a friend, broke the lock for the rooftop access door of his building, get out there only to remember that I'm afraid of heights?????

It's really not about taking lemons and making lemonaide. It's seeing things in a Hemmingway light. Now, dude was just plain crazy, but his life is admired by all. It's not so much his adventures, but the gusto that he lived life with. How else would I have felt so confident in calling British men pasty had it not been for that crazy night in Jamaica??? (man, I wish I hadn't chickened out of flying back to England with them!) It's all about how we see the things going on around us and deciding to join in or not. What you call crazy, I call life. You see a scary biker dude looking for his next victim. I see a chance to let the wind blow through my hair and a guy who's gonna show me how he sees life. Where will it lead me? Maybe right back to the very place I started. But, it's all about the ride, baby!

I can honestly say that people have envied my life. The envy stems from the "risks" I've taken. I don't see them as risks, because it's always been about exploring life and the world. Seeing what's around that next bend and seeing where the current takes me from there!

Spending your whole life in the neighborhood you grew up in???? To me THAT'S crazy!

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Yep, Spooky, I prefer crazy, too.

Submitted by Pussy Willow on June 28, 2007 - 1:56pm.

And, while I prefer the quiet life, the most fun I've ever had in my life was from taking risks. Unfortunately, it was a risk that landed me in bum-fuck Texas but you takes the good with the bad.

What's that old saw - you shouldn't go to your grave with a sigh of relief but rather whooping and hollerin' "Woo!Hoo What a ride!" Something like that, anyway.

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I also like quiet

Submitted by spookyyank on June 28, 2007 - 3:53pm.

and peace in my life. I rarely get it, but I do enjoy it!
I know all too well about the risks that back-fire! But, even in the situation you are in now - that we both are in now - I know I can't ignore the fact that when my feet hit the pavement in Pittsburgh, I'll appreciate it so much more!

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I like crazy too

Submitted by TheQueen on June 29, 2007 - 5:59pm.

But I actually don't think it's necessarily one or the other.

What I mean is, I live a pretty crazy life – could match you story for story probably for all the chance encounters, completely spontaneous crazy things I have done in my life – and I love it.

But I also have a mental illness. Which is not being crazy. It's being flat out unable to see past the tip of my nose on some days, and lost in a dark murk of depression so thick I can't even leave the house. It's not crazy at all. It's awful. And when it's at it's peak, it keeps me from doing all the crazy stuff I like to do.

So I'm crazy and mentally ill. But i prefer the crazy part.

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Hail to the Queen!

Submitted by spookyyank on June 30, 2007 - 9:03am.

I agree with you that having a mental illness is not being crazy. Yesterday was a bad day for me. I got an email - junk mail really - but the subject line, seeming so personal, brought on a panic attack. It's still something I'm getting used to. To suddenly be so shook up that I'm shaking, can't think straight, nerves GONE, can't even hold a proper conversation! All I wanted to do was crawl back in bed and cry! But, I didn't. I carried on as though nothing was happeneing and focused on other things til it finaly passed! Wow, all that from an email! Crazy, huh? But, it's all part of life for me now. At least it doesn't happen often.
Good for you that you have such a great out look on things, queen! Depression, when it comes on like that is so hard to shake, but that you understand what it is and how to "deal" with it - you'll do much better than others!

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my crazies

Submitted by ModelMom on June 29, 2007 - 6:23pm.

oh craziness vs. mental illness......yes there definitely is a difference. crazy is ever so much fun (or at least can be) but the other is far from it. i've been crazy before. i post about all my crazy adventures in my Peacocks on Leashes blog (too lazy to add a hyper link right now) and even though i'm a wife & mom of two now and live a pretty sedentary life (with some naked old lady to spice things up across the parking lot!) i do miss my crazy life. and my crazy friends. and all the crazy stuff we did and drank and ate together. *Sigh* but i do have my golden years of craziness to look forward to! tee hee!

and yeah.....people that have never so much as left their old neighborhood....definitely insane....and b o r i n g!!!!!

Airing my dirty laundry at: Peacocks on Leashes

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not the girl I used to be

Submitted by spookyyank on June 30, 2007 - 9:09am.

That's for true! No more partying all night - swapping out boyfriends like they were purses - nope, just the boring life! Well, for now. I do intend to have a social life again, will just have to find a balance to it all. So, crazy is on the horizon - oh yes, it is.

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and when you get old.....

Submitted by ModelMom on June 30, 2007 - 10:46am.

rather than swap guys like they're purses, you can physically pick up the more feeble ones and swing them around like i'll be swinging around my handbags!

Airing my dirty laundry at: Peacocks on Leashes

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Crazy is fantastic. The

Submitted by IntricateGirl on June 29, 2007 - 9:40pm.

Crazy is fantastic. The ONLY times in my life that I regret are the times when I had the opportunity to do something crazy and I didn't. Somewhere in between trying to freeze all the locks on the administration building so I wouldn't have to take my finals, filling a glass hand jar with different colored pixie sticks and giving it as a present to my boyfriend, sewing the crotch for a Dr. Frankenfurter costume for a guy I liked in exchange for him modelling it for me, and other stories that are too X-rated to share, I've discovered that being crazy is a whole lot of fun.

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missing out, IG

Submitted by spookyyank on June 30, 2007 - 9:21am.

Ya, I hate those memories, too. But, the time I could have gone out on the boat with the guy I met on the nude beach - I'm still sure I'd have never been seen again if I'd gone! So, sometimes it works out!
But, other than when my gut tells me to run away, I try my damndist to experience everything that comes my way! I may not live forever the way I plan to, but at least I won't be disappointed with myself when I do die!

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The real crazy is....

Submitted by xingtiao on June 30, 2007 - 10:55am.

not taking any risks. I had the sort of parents who put me in a sort of mental cage so I found it stressful to be crazy but sometimes I just did it, like the times when I stood in a crowd of demonstrators facing a large herd of policemen with batons, but a lot of the time I just did the expected thing and served employers and houses and stuff but then I took the risk of leaving a marriage that everyone else thought was good and started exploring some of the things I had always wanted to explore like Folk Festivals and reading my poetry in public and dancing even when no one else was dancing and leaving jobs to travel and it really is better. My ambition was to be eccentric and I fulfilled it. Now I'm in China and my darling is 32 years younger than me and thank God she went crazy and fell in love with me. It's a mad risk to have such an age gap in a relationship but we are crazy enough to be taking the risk and risking the stereotyped thoughts of others but Wow! we love it, each other I mean. Stay crazy but keep your instincts tuned. If you didn't see my last post here, Spooky, my new site is http://hughmacdougall.com Crazies are welcome as long as they're not badpeoplecrazies. Give me your crazy opinions on what I write if you can work out how. I've still got a few bugs to fix.

If the value of each human being is equal to the value of the one you love why would you ever participate in killing by war or any other activity with deadly intent. Hugh at http://hughmacdougall.com

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I can relate!

Submitted by spookyyank on June 30, 2007 - 11:32am.

I guess, I was also raised to be crazy. My dad was a drunk and my mother hated me for wanting better than she aspired for! I was supposed to be a quiet, good girl who married, made babies and never shined. Of my remaining family, it's my brother who cheers me on to be the biggest, brightest I can be. I also left a marriage others considered good. I found it to be miserable!
Yes, be crazy, xingtiao! A 32 yr age difference can and has worked out for other people, so why not you??? It's wonderful that you both took that chance. Even if it doesn't work out to be forever - you're so much better off for trying! The bravery is in the risk. The beauty and fulfillment is in the trying! My favorite people are eccentrics. The reason is that they don't see life as having any barriers.
I'll pop in and out of your site. Lately my attention span has been too short to read much of anything! But, I'll leave comments once I fugure it all out. Us crazies need to stick together to make sure the "sane" folks of the world don't try to drag us down!

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