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"Being crazy doesn't mean your torn up inside, it is just you and me amplified. If you have ever told a lie and enjoyed it, or wanted to remain a child forever...."

From Girl Interrupted, but I think she's right...it doesn't mean your torn, it is just an extreme...

I am not tempted, thanks. Been there, done that. Emily,

from my memory you wrote in another blog:

"... yes, but can you take the insanity?" about living in the arctic for an extended period of time. It is not so bad if you are insane yourself which I think most of us are over here. I am only playing on east Greenland amateur level on my Kloz 1741 but in the other hand the straight jackets do not seem to be necessary. You feel quite normal being insane here.
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In the dark time you can use light therapy, and when the spring arrives with its enormous amount of light you can take about 1mg melatonin in the afternoon, it stabilizes the biological clock.
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About the womb: There is a japaneese obstetrician who has made a record of the sounds heard inside the uterus "Sleep gently in the Womb". I have learnt to imitate these sounds, and it is very effective to obtain close contact with small children, the younger the better. Some times it is nearly too effective in the sense that the contact with me is more intimate than with the parents, but as it calms them down (both the baby and as a consequence also the parents) it is very appreciated.

Sounds in the womb?
Mind elaborating on what they are? I am curious. It sounded like a party on the beach with Mexican food. This is such an interesting and thought-provoking blog that I started writing a comment which grew to be very long, so I'm publishing it as a separate blog. In this comment, I will say that I have worked in psychiatric wards, and they are generally not pleasant places to live. In one of them, I sometimes heard a patient playing a piano. He or she was technically good, but his/her playing was lacking in affect. "Affect" is a technical psychiatric term whose meaning is very similar to the word as used by musicians. Jim, Cinco de Mayo, baby! :)

Pauline, my closest coffee shop friend works daily with psychiatric patients. She has many stories, which is part of what got me spinning on this topic (that, and my own family nut tree, which I hold dear to my heart). It was meant to be taken tongue-in-cheek. Perhaps I should have inserted a disclaimer. Best wishes to you in your fight to stay free!

I remember that episode of "Northern Exposure" Emily, and I remember thinking too about how we define sanity. In fact, a large number of the characters could have been defined as mad, led by Maurice. It depends what obsessions are considered OK or normal at any time or place.

BTW, it was a really good series, wasn't it?

Northern Exposure is pretty brilliant. I actually never watched it until after I moved up here. There are inaccuracies that cause most people who are from Alaska to scoff the show, but they fail to see what an accurate portrait it paints of Alaskans, various cultures, and human nature in general. Heading to my destination tonight, I saw pretty much the same thing. A guy crouched down on the corner. He breaks across the street, bent over double like somebody trying to stay out of a video. On the far corner he crouches down again, eyes darting around, searching for the Viet Cong. And the car in front of me had Alaska license plates. Black on orange with a flag in the middle, right? It got better though. --Navy on gold. Go on... PS In a later episode, the violinist escapes form the mental ward with the aid of none other than Maurice himself.

(...in case anyone was concerned.)

Yesterday I also saw a poster advertising a concert by a violinist named Maurice something. In a photo, taken around 1900 I'd guess. Was he from Cicely? You mean Sicily don't you, you poor thing. No, I mean Cicely, dear. I never really saw the show but I heard it was pretty good. I bet it was more than just bears and mooses chasing people around in the snow, huh?