ABSTRACT
This commentary weaves together major strands covered in previous chapters and considers madness among artists and writers as well as those who commit suicide. Our physical being is finite, but psyche appears woven from a fabric of infinity. We are partly a mystery to ourselves and others. Unknown otherness is embedded in being human. “I-yet-not-I” constitutes our subjectivity. A primordial experience of merger and separation with face and breast in infancy supports a rhythmic experience of closeness and distance, breakdown and recovery. A capacity for coming through emotional breakdown grows resilience and trust. Forms of early trauma can damage trust and continuity of being. Fluid and rhythmic use of form and dissolution, structure and chaos, sensitivity and determination tend to work cooperatively during healthy creativity. When they are uncooperative, unharmonious inner tension and war can occur. Overidentification with one tendency or another can combine with intolerance to create hostility and impede mutual correctiveness and psychic flow. Clinical examples include Ernest Hemingway, Vincent Van Gogh, and Sylvia Plath, among others. Madness is part of being human and, like death, can never be extinguished. Eigen and the author seek to learn from psychosis and treat it as a partner in evolution.
