Esquire Magazine

In The War Against Youth, Marche writes:  “The recession didn’t gut the prospects of American young people. The Baby Boomers took care of that.

“Isn’t it amazing how something as simple as a date on a calendar can make you stop short and catch your breath? That’s the way it was for me earlier today when I realized today was a reminder of a missing friend.

Alex Haley, known to the world as the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Roots, died on February 10, 1992. That was twenty years ago, one score of years. His passing is now so far in my own past I can use Biblical measurements to calculate the distance. And, yet, if I close my eyes and think for a moment, I can hear his voice as clear as if he were sitting next to me now.”

Read Shane’s entire story here.

I will sometimes walk from a parking lot to a store only to turn around and go back to make sure I locked the car doors – then worry the whole way back to the store that maybe they weren’t actually locked, even though I just checked them.  Yes, I have gone back to my car twice to check the locks more than a few times.  There is also one, and only one, way to tuck in a dress shirt – even if it takes 20 or 25 minutes in the morning to accomplish it properly.

Although we have approximately 900 books in our living room library, they are grouped by subject or message – not author (except for Ernest Hemingway, Mark Twain, John Irving, and Truman Capote who each have shelves of their own for obvious reasons).  I can walk through the door at night and know, within minutes, if a book is out of place.  I’m not bragging – and I wish this were not the case – but it is, and I have no choice but to immediately find the book and return it to its proper home (often before putting down my briefcase).

A popular medical website says, ““Having Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is like being allergic to life – every waking moment is spent in a state of mental hyper-sensitivity.”  I think this is a bit melodramatic, but I get the point they are making (in exactly 20 words – if you count “hyper-sensitivity” as singular).

My routines are not debilitating, but they are time consuming and stress inducing.  I know they are common symptoms of OCD and it was obvious from an early age that I had many of the symptoms (but they didn’t diagnose it often in the 70s).  I can joke about the ridiculous things I do – even though they can sometimes drive those around me crazy and are regularly the source of frustration for me.

I know the world will not stop and I will not die if I don’t do my routines.  I will simply be uncomfortable.  My routines, as much of a bother as they are, give me comfort.  That’s the only way I can explain them.

As I get older, some of my compulsions have lessened and some have become worse.   I must turn my office lights on (I have four lamps in my office) in the same order every morning (this is a relatively new compulsion), while I find that sometimes I forget to check the door locks the third or fourth time at night – I still check them at least twice.  As I age, I find myself counting and keeping track of things like the number of steps I take or the number of stairs I climb at different locations.  This too is a new compulsion.  Whatever.

One of the benefits of being middle-aged is that you realize virtually everyone you meet has some kind of flaw.  I’m not a freak – and I’m certainly not alone.

One of my favorite writers, David Sedaris, gives an hilarious account of his battle with OCD in his fantastic book “Naked.”  The chapter “A Plague of Tics” is about his uncontrollable urge to touch specific objects – sometimes with his nose or tongue.  It was was one the funniest (and saddest) essays I have read.

Sedaris writes, “This was a long and complicated process that demanded an oppressive attention to detail.  It wasn’t that I enjoyed pressing my nose against the scalding hood of a parked car — pleasure had nothing to do with it.  A person had to do these things because nothing was worse than the anguish of not doing them.”

The good thing about my newer compulsions is that they are very easy to hide. No one knows I am counting the steps from my car to the restaurant entrance.  No one knows that I sometimes spend 15 minutes in the morning getting my socks on my feet just right so the seam is properly aligned with the ends of my toes.  No harm, no foul.  Just don’t mess with the books in my library or I’ll punch you in the throat (but only after I put the book back where it belongs).

Brian Wilson

While reaching for heaven, Brian Wilson was entering hell. It was a place he’d been before.

Though the “tortured artist” has long been a cliché, there does appear to be a relationship between mental illness and creativity. Studies indicate that the brains of highly creative people react differently to information than those of “normal” people.

“Highly creative people are probably highly creative because of certain cognitive mechanisms that also would predispose them to symptoms of mental disorder if they didn’t have additional protective factors,” says Harvard psychology instructor Shelley Carson, author of “Your Creative Mind.”

Their childhoods often “force them to spend time in their inner world. … They can develop their own ideas about things rather than being dependent upon the ideas that are sort of forced down their throat.”

The entire story (with video) can be read and watched here.

The second person profiled in this series is Pulitzer Prize-winner Jennifer Egan, who talks extensively about creativity and failure.  Her story (also by Leopold) can be found here.

On January 31, 2012, Jakob Dylan tweeted: “Wallflowers are in the studio. Stay tuned to hear more from the band.” Best tweet I’ve read in a long time.

Kate Middleton

(from the LA Times) – Eight months after wedding England’s Prince William, Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge (formerly Kate Middleton), has revealed she will become a patron of the British charity Action on Addiction, which supports research, prevention and treatment of addiction, support for addicts’ families and the education and training of those working in the field.

Action on Addiction is one of several charities to which the Duchess will lend her highly visible support: Other charities relate to Catherine’s interest in the arts, including a charity that provides art therapy to children. She also announced she would become a patron of East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices, which help care for children with life-threatening illnesses.

Read the entire LA Times story here.

Henry Granju

For those interested in addiction who wish to help a little closer to home, check out Henry’s Fund – a Knoxville-based nonprofit that helps those who need it the most get addiction treatment for their disease regardless of their financial situation, lack of insurance coverage, or economic status. Henry Granju, 18, suffered an overdose after a beating he received during a drug deal and died in 2010. “Henry’s Fund” was formed in his memory. You can learn about recent Henry’s Fund donations in this WATE (ABC) television story.

Henry’s Fund is a Donor Advised Nonprofit Fund of the East Tennessee Foundation.  Its mission is to provide direct financial assistance to help pay the costs of the full continuum of care for addiction treatment for young people between the ages of 12 and 20. Henry’s Fund addiction treatment scholarships, known as “Henry’s Gift,” are available through Henry’s Fund partner programs.

For more information about Henry’s Fund, and to learn how you can help young addicts get the treatment they need, please visit www.HenryGranju.org

The only logical reason I can think of to keep them going is the handwritten letter and card.  I have dresser drawers full of them, scrapbooks full of them and I actually get excited when something comes in the mail with my address that someone has taken the time to write, because I know what is inside is likely special.  Will future generations have dresser drawers and scrapbooks full of emails and tweets from grandparents, friends and loved ones?  No.  Email simply doesn’t lend itself to becoming an heirloom – it’s not personal.

CBS Sunday Morning‘s Ben Stein did a commentary on the Postal Service last week that is worth the minute or so it takes to watch.  Watch it … and appreciate what we can still do for less than a dollar (if we’ll just take the time to do it).

Related:   My mail woman, who has been my mail woman for years, is evil.  If any of you remember the movie from the late 1980s called Funny Farm, with Chevy Chase, you’ll remember his ongoing war with his crazy mailman.  Throughout the movie, Chevy repeatedly runs down the street chasing the mailman with a baseball bat.

When I pay extra money for expedited delivery of something, she leaves that little slip in my mailbox that says “I tried to deliver your package, but there was no one home.  You can claim your package at the Post Office” … even when I’m home to see her put the slip in my mailbox without ever pulling in the driveway.  I am certain that Ben Franklin, the founding father of the United States Postal Service, would grab a bat and join me in the chase if he could.  You might say he’d “go postal.”

In a new book, called Safari As A Way of Life, we get to see more detail about the art, drive, and special young person Dan Eldon was beyond the artwork he left behind in his journals. He also bequeathed a life story that has inspired students, teachers, artists, and creative activists—as well as a forthcoming film, an apparel line, and the Spring 2011 collection from Tom’s Shoes. Raised in Kenya, Dan grew up with a unique outlook on life. Through adventurous safaris and benevolent crusades around the world, he crafted a philosophy of curiosity, creativity, and charity. This unique visual biography showcases previously unpublished artwork from Dan’s acclaimed journals, letters, and snapshots that takes readers on a journey through Dan’s life and beyond, exploring the impact made by this remarkable artist on everyone who has encountered his story.

Take a look at these books – they really are amazing and inspiring.  While you’re at it, read a story I wrote for an art magazine that can be found at Dan Eldon’s website here or on my blog here.  Also, take a look at all of the great creative activism taking place around the world by artists, journalists, photographers and writers today through programs inspired by Dan Eldon at Dan Eldon: Artist, Activist, Adventurer, The Dan Eldon Debut Collection and Creative Visions Foundation.

I’ve been listening to two of my favorites over and over again in recent weeks.  Forget that they are songs, and simply read the remarkable, penetrating lyrics.

 “If I Ever Lose My Faith In You”

You could say I lost my faith in science and progress
You could say I lost my belief in the holy church
You could say I lost my sense of direction
You could say all of this and worse but

If I ever lose my faith in you
There’d be nothing left for me to do

Some would say I was a lost man in a lost world
You could say I lost my faith in the people on TV
You could say I’d lost my belief in our politicians
They all seemed like game show hosts to me

If I ever lose my faith in you
There’d be nothing left for me to do

I could be lost inside their lies without a trace
But every time I close my eyes I see your face

I never saw no miracle of science
That didn’t go from a blessing to a curse
I never saw no military solution
That didn’t always end up as something worse but
Let me say this first

If I ever lose my faith in you
There’d be nothing left for me to do

The song below was written by Sting for a friend who was dying of AIDS.

“Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot”

When you’re down and they’re counting
When your secrets all found out
When your troubles take to mounting
When the map you have leads you to doubt
When there’s no information
And the compass turns to nowhere that you know well

Let your soul be your pilot
Let your soul guide you
He’ll guide you well

When the doctors failed to heal you
When no medicine chest can make you well
When no counsel leads to comfort
When there are no more lies they can tell
No more useless information
And the compass spins
The compass spins between heaven and hell

Let your soul be your pilot
Let your soul guide you
He’ll guide you well

And your eyes turn towards the window pane
To the lights upon the hill
The distance seems so strange to you now
And the dark room seems so still

Let your pain be my sorrow
Let your tears be my tears too
Let your courage be my model
That the north you find will be true
When there’s no information
And the compass turns to nowhere that you know well

Let your soul be your pilot
Let your soul guide you
Let your soul guide you
Let your soul guide you upon your way…