The Thin Line

D'ya know that line ... the thin one, the one deleted by Oscar Levant? ... d'ya?

What happens when you cross it?  How you know you've crossed? Would anyone tell you you've crossed it  before they slap the little white straight jacket on you?

Of course, I'm talking about the thin line between genius and insanity, but you probably guessed that already.

Here are a few definitions of Genius

• someone who has exceptional intellectual ability and originality
• brilliance: unusual mental ability
• ace: someone who is dazzlingly skilled in any field
• exceptional creative ability
• flair: a natural talent

I can see myself in ALL of these definitions (there are many more, but I only chose the ones that fit me).

You see, my mind is working all the time ...it never stops!  Just try getting to sleep at night when at night when your mind is still battling to decipher the complexities of science in order to create a new and powerful method of powering the universe!.

Then there are all the observations of the day that need to be catalogued and filed away for future reference and the witticism's that need to be selected and pruned in order to prepare me for any up and coming verbal 'fisticuffs' or sparring.  

I mean, I'm only 5' 7"!!!  Where am I going to keep all this stuff?

So my question is ... and this is basically a rhetorical question ... am I nuts?

Take a ball of string and unravel it.  Throw it up into the air and observe where and how it lands.  THAT is the thin line we all strive not to cross.  Full of loops, twists and curves that are guaranteed to send you spinning into the abyss should your mind negotiate it with a little more speed than recommended. 

There are people out there (one or two) who are reading this and saying "What the hell is he on about?", and I don't blame them one bit.  In fact I have wondered the very same thing (as I typed the previous paragraph).

Here's what I want to know ... Does one have to be nuts in order to gain acceptance in the this tangled and intricate world in which we live?

I read blogs of strangers and they tell me in no uncertain terms that you have to be "whacked-out" big style to make it as a blogger.  You have to have something approaching the proverbial "dropped on the head as a child" mentality to gain the approval of the 'blogging' world in general.  

Or do you just have to be very good at looking at life and taking the piss out of it?

So, let me get back to my original (and rhetorical) question ... Am I nuts?  

My feet, if my perception of ME is correct, are still firmly planted on solid earth.  My head, perceptions permitting again, is firing on all cylinders and there is no steam escaping from any cranial orifice.

So I reckon I am not nuts ... I have not crossed the line ... I still live on the same planet as everyone else.  

But one day ... 

Who knows?