In my ever excessive internet searching I came across this today:
Why we need more mentally ill leaders
I have already reserved at my library the book the article is referring to, A First-Rate Madness. I find this all very interesting.
I've heard for years about the plight of the mega creative. I've had a pseudo, albeit strange because he's been dead for 123 years, crush on Vincent van Gogh for quite some time. Yes, he was mentally ill.
We like to think [at least I do], and I honestly believe it's true..... Often creative people suffer from depression and other disorders of the mind that help them create. Musicians, artists, etc. But the leaders? The presidents and generals and people at the front of the pack?
A confession: I adore Winston Churchill. Not that I know all that much about him. But I do know this. He navigated the people of Great Britain through World War II. Bombings, threats, attacks, etc. And I recently came to realize he suffered from mental illness. So I reserved one of his biographies too.
Perhaps I'm attracted to the mentally unstable. Maybe we all are. Maybe, as the above article revealed, we need the mentally unstable to lead us.
I suppose I find this interesting because my husband, for much of our married life, has been a leader in various roles. Often in a work related role, sometimes in the community. He has many of what society deems as leadership characteristics. Although, somewhat ironically, I doubt society considers having bipolar as a strength in a leader.
I find this reassuring. It tells me that all of the years spent leading and/or exercising those qualities weren't in vain. He was doing what comes naturally. There's a place for people like my husband, and it might just be at the front, not hiding in the back, ashamed. I think that's good news.
Don't get me wrong, this will not lead me to apply unnecessary expectations and hopes of grandeur. I'm not looking to become the wife of the next manic mayor.
It simply builds my case [purely my opinion, mind you] that those who we label as mentally ill, might just be better suited for living than those we label as healthy.
