Is it true that those of us who write, and bare our souls tend to be depressed? Is writing an outlet that helps us keep our grip on reality, instead of plunging deeper into despair? I think it's true for me. Having noticed several journals that contained comments about depression, I wanted to share a little bit concerning the link to creativity and depression from the book, Sacred Sorrows, Embracing and Transforming Depression. This book is a compilation of essays and stories by authors who have struggled with depression. Below is an excerpt from On the Edge of Darkness, by Kathy Cronkite:
Whether I am trying to write, to express myself musically, or to act, the downward spiral into depression inspires and inhibits creativity at different points along the way. As the melancholy begins, there is a heightened, though self-absorbed, kind of passion that allows the upwelling of those romantically bleak feelings that inspired Emily Dickinson or Gerard Manley Hopkins. Here is where I write poetry, where I can identify with the sadness or anger in a theatrical part, where I walk through the night, singing in full voice old hymns or folk blues. Here I feel most in touch with the deepest corners of my soul, and when I have a creative outlet, the junction of poetry and pain feels if not good at least satisfying.
But as the spiral continues down, I feel so inept, incapable, so hopeless that there is no point in attempting to create. Anything I fashioned would be dross. Soon and effort at all becomes pointless, activity slows, then stops and numbness sets in.
Why does it seem almost a given that creativity and madness go hand in hand? Why are we less surprised by the suicidal death of a poet than that of a doctor? From Van Gogh to Jean Seberg, some of humankind's most gifted artists have lost their battles with their inner demons. As tragic as these losses are, still we ask ourselves: Is it their madness that imbues their creativity with genius? If they were well, would their art still move us so profoundly?
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Less creative minds label it "madness." We artists tend to see and feel life more sensitively than "normal" people. And what we see and feel can weigh heavily at times. But that is why we write, sing, draw, paint...to give outlet to the creative burden. Lisa :-]
ReplyDeleteI do really hope that writing and depression are not linked... I love to write creatively and I am not depressed.... Does this mean I am not a good writer because I am not depressed.... That would depress me if I am not a good writer. This must be a self-fulfilling prophesy! Kristi
ReplyDeleteI always figured that artists see, feel, and experience the world differently from everyone else. That their brains actually WORK differently. I imagined that their senses become overwhelmed with the abundance of stimuli, that they feel beauty, passion, pain, etc. more acutely than the normal person. I expect it WOULD be maddening.
ReplyDelete~Stacey
This is a very interesting entry.
ReplyDeleteKate
My creative writing teacher told me "it's harder to write happy things than sad because when we are sad we are in the moment and when we are happy we are often too busy to notice."
ReplyDeleteThanks for all your comments! I like what Christina's creative writing teacher said, and will try to be more in the moment when I am happy. That way I'll have some happier things to write about!
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