“I bear the wounds of all the battles I avoided.”
—Fernando Pessoa
Why is it that pain can trigger creativity?
The past week I have been the perfect example of the tortured artist, spending my days in splendid isolation and spitting out art and sketches at an unprecedented rate. The past month I’ve done something like two dozen drawings and paintings, plus a bunch of sketches – half of them in the last week alone. Not everything is worth showing, of course, but all in all I’m quite pleased. Plus, the process has taught me things and sparked ideas that I will keep working on.
Isolation and hurt can lead to productivity, it seems.
Perhaps it is more the quiet than anything else – the shutting out of distractions and considerations. When we turn our gaze inward and look away from the world, we can finally see things with our mind instead of our eyes. Truths that otherwise would have been lost in the buzzing of everyday life.
Also – in spite of me keeping myself largely isolated – several queries have trickled in for the visual side of my art, and a whole lot of appreciation.
Which is nice.
I just hope I can keep this energy going and keep producing. Maybe not at the rate of several drawings per day, put hopefully several per week. And maybe I can finally get going on some of my stories as well – there are several things wanting my attention, from new stories to rewrites to last edits.
With a bit of effort, maybe I can even catch up to my goals for this year…
- Read – Tormentor; William Meikle
- Watch – Birdman; Alejandro G. Iñárritu
- Listen – Kill Myself; Tim McGraw
When I’m hurting I turn to poetry. Helps me make sense of negativity and its very therapeutic. Glad you are in a fit of productivity but hope it’s not at too great a cost.
I used to do poetry, years ago, both for positive and negative emotions. Should take that up again, I guess.
Thank you – the cost remains to be seen, but as with everything else you have to take the good with the bad.