Does creativity make you a little bit crazy?

Sometimes I think I have to be a little bit crazy to be me. My life is ordinary in so many ways, yet in others it is so less than ordinary. I mean, I have 5 children for a start! In this day and age it's fairly uncommon to have more than a couple of kids so when you say to people you have 5 of them, their reactions range from astonishment to admiration and sometimes absolute horror! My less than ordinary life continues with the fact that I met my wonderful husband over the internet (shock horror!!), through a shared interest and he moved halfway around the world to live here with me. Again, people's reactions to this little tidbit of information vary greatly although I like to think that most people are genuinely happy for us.

I am also an artist, which is a less than ordinary profession. I think it's one that the general public lay very little stock in, and for the most part, believe that it's not really much of a profession.  I don't make much money - I certainly could make more with a more traditional, no, expected profession. Because being an artist is actually quite a traditional profession: art has been around for as long as we have been able to call ourselves human, and the profession of ART has been in existence longer than many many others....(think receptionists....real estate agents....sports players...etc). Yet for the most part the stereotype of the starving artist has been longstanding and accurate. There is a miniscule percentage of artists who make enough to earn a decent living, and an even smaller percent who become rich off their profession. So the question stands: do you need to be crazy (even just a little bit?) to be an artist, or is being an artist something that is inherent within some people rather than a conscious choice?

For me at least, the decision to try and make a living from being an artist is a conscious one, but the need to create and be creative is absolutely inherent within my being. It is part of who I am and it makes me me.

I lie awake at night sometimes with a million different ideas running through my head, and I stand in the shower (where I think a lot of us do our best thinking....something about the running warm water is very soothing and thought provoking), imagining various ideas into reality in my mind.

I do believe that creativity makes you slightly crazy though, and I understand the other longstanding stereotype, that of the crazy artist. Sometimes I have so much in my head that I struggle to get it all out and I think I come off as a little (or a lot) nuts. I also believe though, that the slight insanity makes me a happier and more accepting person. After all, if I can live with the chaos that takes place in my own mind and life, I can accept the crazy from others. (For the most part at least!!) Creativity is a part of my soul, and without it life would be a dull colourless and boring version of what I have.  So for me, I'll take the slight craziness that inevitably ensues with a smile, and say thanks. I'll leave you with an image I've shared on here before, but I think it sums up the inside of my brain nicely; full of chaos and colour, and the odd flying turtle too.

Imagination, mixed media on canvas, Sarah Wherry 2012