Kristin Leigh Olson

An Artist's Manic Tale Kristin Leigh Olson

This story takes place through the eyes of a young lady named Kat, twenty-two-year-old counseling Master of Arts student attending classes at a university in the Midwest. In the beginning of the story, Kat is stressed out about the H1N1 flu vaccination and is very unsure whether or not it is safe to take. She is afraid it will have adverse side effects and is very hesitant to get it done. However, she gets the nasal injection then starts to feel physically sick and then she begins to feel mentally sick as well since she loses more and more sleep. Ultimately, Kat ends up in the mental health hospital, where she experiences more psychosis until she finally decides it's a good idea to take her meds. While in the hospital, Kat learns a lot about herself, her past and how extremely important art used to be to her, how she had gotten so discouraged about her abilities as a child and had forgotten about how much fun and therapeutic it is to make and do art projects. As Kat states, "Art is all made from the heart, so it may as well be spelt with an H in front of it: Hart, since it makes the world go round with happiness, excitement and joy. So, why do we have to grade art- why not just make it so that it is constructively criticized (if need be)? Then the necessary improvements can easily be made, without a lot of hurt and discouragement."