Why Smart People Hurt. Eric Maisel

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      PRAISE FOR WHY SMART PEOPLE HURT

      “Eric Maisel has devoted his life to sharing his deep understanding of creativity, meaning, and life purpose. In this new book, Maisel explores the suffering of smart people and once again offers innovative paradigms and practical solutions to end their pain.”

      —Gail McMeekin, author of The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women and The 12 Secrets of Highly Successful Women

      “In this insightful examination of the challenges bright individuals face, Eric Maisel explores how to reclaim your passion and to live a richer and more productive life. It's a smart move to read this wise book.”

      —John Moir, author of Return of the Condor: The Race to Save Our Largest Bird from Extinction

      “If you're so smart, why are you in so much pain? Dr. Maisel gets to the root of the special mental challenges of bright people, provides a new system for deriving meaning and joy from life, and helps you conquer the special challenges of being smart with compassionate and invaluable advice! This book will make a smart person even smarter.”

      —Dr. Katharine Brooks, author of You Majored in What? Mapping Your Path from Chaos to Career

      “Eric Maisel's Why Smart People Hurt is original, provocative, and also reassuring. His conceptualization of mania as a thinking disorder and his treatment for this are original ideas that to my knowledge have never before been expressed. I have taken several courses from Eric and I know personally how powerful his methods are. His principles of natural psychology are, as he describes, simple and yet immensely practical and effective.”

      —Dr. Laurie Jo Moore, MD, ABPN, FRANZCP

      “This is a wise, insightful, and compassionate guide for bright, sensitive, and creative people. If you're smart, you'll get it.”

      —Michael J. Gelb, author of How to Think Like Leonardo Da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day

      OTHER BOOKS BY ERIC MAISEL

      NONFICTION

      Affirmations for Artists

      The Art of the Book Proposal

      The Atheist's Way

      Become a Creativity Coach Now!

      Brainstorm

      Coaching the Artist Within

      Creative Recovery

      The Creativity Book

      Creativity for Life

      Deep Writing

      Everyday You

      Fearless Creating

      A Life in the Arts

      Living the Writer's Life

      Making Your Creative Mark

      Mastering Creative Anxiety

      Natural Psychology

      Performance Anxiety

      The Power of Sleep Thinking

      Rethinking Depression

      Sleep Thinking

      Ten Zen Seconds

      Toxic Criticism

      20 Communication Tips at Work

      20 Communication Tips for Families

      The Van Gogh Blues

      What Would Your Character Do?

      Write Mind

      A Writer's Paris

      A Writer's San Francisco

      A Writer's Space

      FICTION

      Aster Lynn

      The Blackbirds of Mulhouse

      The Black Narc

      Dismay

      The Fastest Horse Available

      The Fretful Dancer

      The Kingston Papers

      Love in Focus

      Murder in Berlin

      Murder on Capitol Hill

      New Israel

      JOURNALS

      Artists Speak

      Writers and Artists on Devotion

      Writers and Artists on Love

      MEDITATION DECKS

      Everyday Calm

      Everyday Creative

      Everyday Smart

      First published in 2013 by Conari Press, an imprint of

      Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC

      With offices at:

      665 Third Street, Suite 400

      San Francisco, CA 94107

       www.redwheelweiser.com

      Copyright © 2013 by Eric Maisel

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC. Reviewers may quote brief passages.

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Maisel, Eric, 1947-

      Why smart people hurt : a guide for the bright, the sensitive, and the creative / Eric Maisel.

      pages cm

      ISBN 978-1-60925-885-6

      1. Gifted persons--Psychology. 2. Intellect. I. Title.

      BF412.M32 2013

      153.9'8--dc23

      2013017678

      Cover design by www.levanfisherdesign.com/Barbara Fisher

      Interior by Fortuitous

      Typeset in Goudy and Solano

      Portions of Chapter 14: The God-Bug Syndrome were previously published in a slightly different form as “The God Bug Syndrome” in Psychology Today.

      Printed in the United States of America

      MAL

      10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

      The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials Z39.48-1992 (R1997).

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       For Ann, as always

      CONTENTS

       Introduction: