Famous “The Starry Night” painting by Vincent van Gogh
This morning the CBS TV show “Sunday Morning” focused on the mind – from artistic genius minds, to animal minds, to those who became creative geniuses as they lost their link to the world as the aged.
The TV show went on to say, many of history’s most celebrated creative geniuses were mentally ill, from renowned artists Vincent van Gogh, who cut off his ear, 
to literary giants Virginia Woolf and Edgar Allan Poe. Today, mounting research shows these two extremes of the human mind really are linked — and scientists are beginning to understand why.
OK, parents and grandparents – You might want to have dumb kids after all. Those straight A students may be in trouble. One study tested the intelligence of 700,000 Swedish 16-year-olds and then followed up a decade later to learn which of them had developed mental illnesses. The startling results were published in 2010. “They found that people who excelled when they were 16 years old were four times as likely to go on to develop bipolar disorder,”
I was not straight A’s. But while watching the TV show, I did create a piece of art. You tell me, after looking at it, if you think I have a demented mind? Now be kind.
Who are the smart people among us? I like to think that our Presidents are very creative, if not genius – regardless of their political party affiliation. To link this thought of mine to the TV show on “Mind, Madness, and Creativity,” I found many of our Presidents turned to the “hobby” of art creation.
A president recovering from a term or two in the highest seat of executive power in the United States needs some downtime and a calming hobby.
I researched to find examples of four Presidents, after retirement, turned to art. I will show you examples of their work:
1. Grant, 
2. Eisenhower, 
3. Carter,
4. George W. Bush.
OK, Grandparents, go tell your A student, or your B student, or what ever level they seek to accomplish in high school, “You are Great” – Things will take care of themselves as they grow up – I think it is your job to just help them “Be active, appreciate each morning, stay out of bad habits, and stay away from bad associations.” I bet they will thank you for your help. Maybe from the oval office.
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