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Saturday, May 14, 2011

Do I seem neurotic to you?

No, wait. Don't answer that.

So my awesome family doctor (whom I love dearly) told me at my latest visit (Come to find out I probably have have Valley Fever, YIPPEE!) that when he first met me, I seemed neurotic to him-- but I'm better now.

For the love all that's blissful & holy! I laughed the entire trip home! (The things that man doesn't know! HA!)

On the flip side, he corrected himself, saying that he thinks he TOO is a bit neurotic. He has to do things in a certain way and that's just simply the way it has to be done.

It made me curious. (Yes. You should all be afraid.)

Dictionary.com defines neurosis as:

neu·ro·sis

  [noo-roh-sis, nyoo-]  Show IPA
–noun, plural -ses [-seez]  Show IPA. Psychiatry .
1.
Also called psychoneurosis. a functional disorder in which feelings of anxiety, obsessional thoughts, compulsive acts, and physical complaints without objective evidence of disease, in various degrees and patterns, dominate the personality.
2.
a relatively mild personality disorder typified by excessive anxiety or indecision and a degree of social or interpersonal maladjustment.

Obsessive thoughts... "must write book, must write book, must write book" Check.
Compulsive acts... must write book, must write book, goddamn deadline, must write book. Check.


However, I do not have anxiety (OMG! MY DEADLINE'S LOOMING), nor indecision (Wait, should I say that?) nor any social or interpersonal maladjustment. (You all like me, right? RIGHT?)

But it makes me think that to one degree or another, we're all flippin' crazy.

The only difference is, are you my personal brand of crazy?



Well, I hope so, 'cause you're reading this and I love you for it.

Side note: try saying Coccidioidomycosis without giggling. I can't.

13 comments:

Jennifer Prescott said...

You posted this at 6:58 am! I think you may be crazy for certain. So am I.

Carissa Andrews said...

LOL! Could be worse... I'm usually up at 5am! ;) HA!

Amelia James said...

I wouldn't say I'm crazy. Weird, but not crazy...today.

Daezarkian13 said...

I thoroughly believe that all writers are crazy, at least a little. If they don't think they're crazy, they're probably not doing it right. =D

Carissa Andrews said...

I think we're all a little nuts. But it's cool. Normal people worry me. ;)

Anonymous said...

ahhhm I think that's sort of a pre-requisite to being in the arts ... writers especially.

You know pre-req like back in school .. can't take 'I'm Going to Rule the World Master' class without taking 'I'm Going to Rule the World 101.'

Unknown said...

I can't get beyond the fact that all writers have voices in our heads...that's a little crazy.

Carissa Andrews said...

Sophie and Ashley- See! Totally crazy! It's all good! HA!

Kara_Malinczak said...

Well you know all about me Carissa. I'm completely neurotic. I have insomnia too and I'm borderline agoraphobic. Completely antisocial. So yeah, I'm crazy. But I also love myself and I wouldn't want it any other way. I consider all my problems as my filter to ward off the assholes I wouldn't want to be friends with anyway. :)

Carissa Andrews said...

I'm right there with you, Kara! I embrace my idiosyncrasies and run with it! I think you have a great filter! ;)

Anonymous said...

Carissa, I laughed through the whole post, brilliant!

As writers we're all crazy in some form or another. I mean aren't we all OCDs? If it weren't for the writing, I'm sure we'd all end up in the nuthouse, or at least two screws short of the funny farm, or one prescription too many, headed for the looney bin!

Now see what you've done? You've inspired me to write my own crazy as heckfire post! What am I to do now?

Oh, and tick-tock, tick-tock...the deadline is fast approaching! But I wouldn't say that if I didn't know you can do it. Because--you CAN do it!

Keep pushin' it!

Carissa Andrews said...

Thanks, Jack! I can't wait to read your crazy as heckfire post! HAHAHA! Okay... back to that damn chapter... must finish this sucker! ;) (Thanks for the encouragement!)

Sara Furlong-Burr said...

I second the whole crazy notion. I don't think one can be completely sane and be a great writer all at once. Who else would agonize over plot lines, character names and dialogue at the expense of a social life?

As far as your post is concerned, I too feel writing the last few words of a novel to be bittersweet. On the one hand, you've just completed a huge labor of love. But, on the other hand, you're going to miss the long nights of new ideas and bringing your characters to life on page.