Powerful, clearly coming from a place of experience in this one. It's true when they say that perspective is everything. In many ways, I feel artists are lucky in that they are able to make use of their state to create art, to channel those emotions into a higher purpose, even though in the moment in almost certainly doesn't feel that way when you've got the black dog breathing down your neck.
As a personal example, my girlfriend is a gifted artist, truly incredible in my opinion, and she's often told me that the most productive period of her life was a 9 month span where she was working on her portfolio for art school, before we had met in her late teens.
The portfolio got her accepted, and it was by all accounts an incredible collection of work, not to mention the host of other drawings and paintings she created during that period. But she also admitted that those were some of the most miserable months of her life, being depressed, feeling lonely and isolated from her friends and classmates, she turned inward and spent several hours every evening lost in creating her art, because she had a singular purpose which allowed her to forget about the pain she was going through each day.
She's much happier now (I take all credit for this of course), but she still occasionally gets periods of depression now and again, and each time losing herself in her art is what distracts her from it until the mood subsides, and each time she produces something that reminds her of how she can get through it.
I think a large part of the reason these depressive episodes are less frequent is because she has those tangible reminders of her own strength, aside from the other lifestyle factors of course.
"Ultimately, you have to figure things out for yourself. There are people to guide you but no one can save you."
A rare statement these days, but a very true one. Most people don't know themselves, they don't spend enough time alone, and they don't ask themselves the important questions about life.
To quote the most quoted man in existence, “Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.”
You have to spend time alone, preferably in nature, with a notebook, and without a phone and think. Just sit there, bored, but don't allow yourself to do anything other than write, and see what comes out of you.
"So, to the question of how one manages the adjustment from returning to the surface after ‘diving for pearls’ I will say this. You have to create your own strategies. Strategies that involve shining that light of imagination and using those skills of self-talk and visualising towards states stronger than those that a piece of transformative art sometimes necessitate."
The mentioning of self-talk and visualisation here, not to mention the emphasis on creating your own strategies is what I think sets you apart. You're in the unique position of being an artist who knows about and understands principles of state control, who is at least aware of the ability to detach from and control your emotional state, which isn't something that can be said for most artists.
I could be wrong here, but I feel there's a thread of balancing the stoic and the epicurean, delving into emotional states and channeling them into creating art, and pulling yourself out of that state after you've gotten what you needed from the black dog through stoically suppressing and detaching.
Just some thoughts on it, great post as always Tom, pleasure to read.
I really wait for Commonplace Newsletter's notification to pop-up every Sunday night or Monday morning (I live in +5:30 GMT!) as the case may be and I can, now, say with certainty that it is always worth the wait. Thank You, Tom. Keep writing these "pearls of wisdom".
Thank you for this newsletter Thomas. I'd say this one especially speaks to my soul and I'd like to say a word or two; first from a theoretical perspective, then from a more personal/practical pojt of view.
First, let's give a little praise to these "dark pearls" we're fishing for. I do not believe in the modern ethos of positity; I do not believe than the way to achieve happiness is to block out negative feelings and negativity (whatever the hell that means) from our lives; at the very best that makes you a delusional and dumbfounded individual that makes himself prey to the first hardship that life will inevitably cast upon him; at worst, an automaton like every selfdevelopment-fed midwit who is always incredibly emotionally repressed deep inside. Financial hardships, heartbreaks and unpleasant events are part of life, same as good things; they are not "anomalies" or things to reject; they are life itself. Refusing to receive and integrate them will leave you more fragile and unprepared in the long run. There is a serenity, a confidence in life and in yourself that can only be obtained through the patient accumulation of these dark pearls. Pearls are jewels after all, and in a sense they can make you rich. The great men in history, wheter artists, adventurers or businessmen have all fished for way many pearls that we probably will in our entire lifetime; this is the price to pay.
On another note, I too used to indulge in substances (alcohol in my case) to level the playing field. I did it because despite all the warnings and cautionary tales it worked; it soothed me and was the only thing that really helped me deconnect from the dark waters. But as you said, it only gets better on the short term and the price you end paying is just too high for the reward. So what I try to do now is first to have my "why" in check: why do I want to dive in these murky waters? Is this because I have to write something that makes it necessary in order to be beautiful and speak to my readers? Is that to better understand how I got trapped in a specific bad place in order not to do it again? If the why is clearly identified, then I can dive more confidently, because I know I'm not brooding aimlessly. The second thing is usually to put a time-frame on it (let's say 30 minutes of journaling or 2 hours of writing) and planning something good and positive in the end, like a call to a good friend, or lunch in my favorite restaurant. The important thing being not to be left with nothing specific to do, because then it will be very hard to "switch" from the emotional state I deliberately put me in. And as I'm sure many will relate to, your entire day can spiral down from here.
But I am conviced that the answers to all our Gordian knots are to be found there. So the question is less "Shall i go there" and "Is there a problem with me to think such things?" than "how do I craft my own lifeline?"
Thanks for your newsletter in general and this post specifically. The timing of discovering you seems providential as I am on an artistic journey of diving for my purpose. And as you are doing with your writing I too am retreating from social media as a means to share the message. Take care, God bless.
Powerful, clearly coming from a place of experience in this one. It's true when they say that perspective is everything. In many ways, I feel artists are lucky in that they are able to make use of their state to create art, to channel those emotions into a higher purpose, even though in the moment in almost certainly doesn't feel that way when you've got the black dog breathing down your neck.
As a personal example, my girlfriend is a gifted artist, truly incredible in my opinion, and she's often told me that the most productive period of her life was a 9 month span where she was working on her portfolio for art school, before we had met in her late teens.
The portfolio got her accepted, and it was by all accounts an incredible collection of work, not to mention the host of other drawings and paintings she created during that period. But she also admitted that those were some of the most miserable months of her life, being depressed, feeling lonely and isolated from her friends and classmates, she turned inward and spent several hours every evening lost in creating her art, because she had a singular purpose which allowed her to forget about the pain she was going through each day.
She's much happier now (I take all credit for this of course), but she still occasionally gets periods of depression now and again, and each time losing herself in her art is what distracts her from it until the mood subsides, and each time she produces something that reminds her of how she can get through it.
I think a large part of the reason these depressive episodes are less frequent is because she has those tangible reminders of her own strength, aside from the other lifestyle factors of course.
"Ultimately, you have to figure things out for yourself. There are people to guide you but no one can save you."
A rare statement these days, but a very true one. Most people don't know themselves, they don't spend enough time alone, and they don't ask themselves the important questions about life.
To quote the most quoted man in existence, “Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.”
You have to spend time alone, preferably in nature, with a notebook, and without a phone and think. Just sit there, bored, but don't allow yourself to do anything other than write, and see what comes out of you.
"So, to the question of how one manages the adjustment from returning to the surface after ‘diving for pearls’ I will say this. You have to create your own strategies. Strategies that involve shining that light of imagination and using those skills of self-talk and visualising towards states stronger than those that a piece of transformative art sometimes necessitate."
The mentioning of self-talk and visualisation here, not to mention the emphasis on creating your own strategies is what I think sets you apart. You're in the unique position of being an artist who knows about and understands principles of state control, who is at least aware of the ability to detach from and control your emotional state, which isn't something that can be said for most artists.
I could be wrong here, but I feel there's a thread of balancing the stoic and the epicurean, delving into emotional states and channeling them into creating art, and pulling yourself out of that state after you've gotten what you needed from the black dog through stoically suppressing and detaching.
Just some thoughts on it, great post as always Tom, pleasure to read.
I like your writing and don't even remember how I got to you.
Is this the poem you're talking about in the beginning?
https://poets.org/poem/tell-me-story
I really wait for Commonplace Newsletter's notification to pop-up every Sunday night or Monday morning (I live in +5:30 GMT!) as the case may be and I can, now, say with certainty that it is always worth the wait. Thank You, Tom. Keep writing these "pearls of wisdom".
Thank you for this newsletter Thomas. I'd say this one especially speaks to my soul and I'd like to say a word or two; first from a theoretical perspective, then from a more personal/practical pojt of view.
First, let's give a little praise to these "dark pearls" we're fishing for. I do not believe in the modern ethos of positity; I do not believe than the way to achieve happiness is to block out negative feelings and negativity (whatever the hell that means) from our lives; at the very best that makes you a delusional and dumbfounded individual that makes himself prey to the first hardship that life will inevitably cast upon him; at worst, an automaton like every selfdevelopment-fed midwit who is always incredibly emotionally repressed deep inside. Financial hardships, heartbreaks and unpleasant events are part of life, same as good things; they are not "anomalies" or things to reject; they are life itself. Refusing to receive and integrate them will leave you more fragile and unprepared in the long run. There is a serenity, a confidence in life and in yourself that can only be obtained through the patient accumulation of these dark pearls. Pearls are jewels after all, and in a sense they can make you rich. The great men in history, wheter artists, adventurers or businessmen have all fished for way many pearls that we probably will in our entire lifetime; this is the price to pay.
On another note, I too used to indulge in substances (alcohol in my case) to level the playing field. I did it because despite all the warnings and cautionary tales it worked; it soothed me and was the only thing that really helped me deconnect from the dark waters. But as you said, it only gets better on the short term and the price you end paying is just too high for the reward. So what I try to do now is first to have my "why" in check: why do I want to dive in these murky waters? Is this because I have to write something that makes it necessary in order to be beautiful and speak to my readers? Is that to better understand how I got trapped in a specific bad place in order not to do it again? If the why is clearly identified, then I can dive more confidently, because I know I'm not brooding aimlessly. The second thing is usually to put a time-frame on it (let's say 30 minutes of journaling or 2 hours of writing) and planning something good and positive in the end, like a call to a good friend, or lunch in my favorite restaurant. The important thing being not to be left with nothing specific to do, because then it will be very hard to "switch" from the emotional state I deliberately put me in. And as I'm sure many will relate to, your entire day can spiral down from here.
But I am conviced that the answers to all our Gordian knots are to be found there. So the question is less "Shall i go there" and "Is there a problem with me to think such things?" than "how do I craft my own lifeline?"
Thanks for your newsletter in general and this post specifically. The timing of discovering you seems providential as I am on an artistic journey of diving for my purpose. And as you are doing with your writing I too am retreating from social media as a means to share the message. Take care, God bless.