art and depression

there exists a belief that creativity and depression are linked. many studies have been done and it has been decided by psychologists that depression fuels creativity. just look at van gogh, david foster wallace, amy tan, monet, truman capote, audrey hepburn, and countless others. the facts seem to build up. right?

i'll be the first to admit that there's a link. but i think the link is opposite of what has been suggested. i'd suggest that artistic talent fuels depression. madeleine l'engle has a lot of good things to say about art and artists, especially in "walking on water," but a piece of dialog from one of her novels moved me the most deeply. i can't find where i wrote it in my journal, and since ray hobbs has been borrowing this book since the end of summer, i can't look it up...but it said something to the effect of "you feel things too deeply not to have to get them out in some form of art." and of course, it was more graceful and eloquent than that, because she's madeleine, and i'm jordan.

but i agree with her. i think that not creating, or not being able to recreate what you see in your head, or any other type of "block" is what leads to the mental disability that is so frequently associated with artists.

just something that's been plaguing me lately.

sidenote: i get to see paintings by van gogh, monet, pisarro, picasso, gaugan, cezanne, and degas IN PERSON one week from today. these guys are my heroes. this is better than anything else in the world.