How did Brilliance Get Wed to Instability?

I have gotten so caught up with Sylvia (and Emily) lately that I find myself seeing things through their 'cheekiness.' The good thing about that is its cathartic value. These poems allow me to express and acknowledge feelings that I might otherwise take out in my own writing. Once I have read their wry descriptions of reality and society, the poison in me bleeds out. I could go on and on about their great talents, but such writing is a lesson, first and foremost, of how to filter the good blood from the bad.

I suppose that makes me the leech :)

Also, I always wondered how 'brilliant' people became characterized as unstable, in one form or another. To pursue that question is to follow my burgeoning fascination with the lives of writers. I used to think that a work existed, more or less, in a vacuum. I read a poem or a novel for its own sake---the singular meaning that would divulge itself to my reading.

Now, I want to know who wrote it? And how? And why?

If you wonder too, follow your feelers...

The link below is one place to start.

Elizabeth Gilbert on nurturing creativity
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius.html


Follow this link for an lively, intimate corresponsdence between two writers.

Theirs Truly: The Lowell-Bishop Letters
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200904/lowell-bishop-letters