Touched with Fire

The book Touched with Fire by Kay R. Jameson, deals with manic-depressive illness and the artistic temperament. Many artists condemn themselves for what modern society considers weaknesses, including moodiness, short attention spans, inability to relate socially and psychotic episodes. What is rarely if ever mentioned is that these symptoms often accompany that rare genius that spawns rich imaginative literary creations.

“Poetic or artistic genius, when infused with these fitful and inconstant moods,” Jameson says, “can become a powerful crucible for imagination and experience…(And) impassioned moods…and the artistic temperament can be welded into a ‘fine madness’…”

The pragmatic modern mind immediately assumes that such moody inconstancy is a “problem,” a negative related to ego that should be crushed instead of appreciated. In Touched with Fire, Jameson makes it clear that, during times of greatest poetic expression in society, possession of a fine madness was considered a gift to be identified, understood and used, not a fault of nature to be condemned and eradicated.

I’m not suggesting that we indulge our tempers due to ego or trample upon others in the name of creativity. However, I do promote gentle assessments of our personal characteristics, with the knowledge that many such idiosyncrasies, while they may complicate lifestyle, are evidences of abilities that can be cultivated into rich creative contributions.

I encourage everyone with a creative inclination to read this book. At the worst it will educate writers in the symptoms of a mental illness that has caused deep sorrow among the artistic population. At the best it will open doors to, “…understanding the relationship between moods and imagination…and the importance of moods in igniting thought, changing perceptions, creating chaos, forcing order upon that chaos, and enabling transformation.”