The funny thing about sleep is that it doesn’t always come when you want it to. Sometimes, I feel tired enough to doze off yet once I tuck myself in, I feel wide awake. While at other times, my mind tends to work overtime at precisely the moment I want it to rest. It’s usually an hour after I’ve tucked myself in, that I manage to get some of that much coveted REM.
They say that the simultaneous counting of sheep has been known to help. You know, when you count one sheep after another as they jump over a small fence. That’s never really worked for me, though. Instead of actually counting the sheep individually, I actually start to question and inquire the effectiveness of the method. Why sheep? Why not horses or badgers or otters? There’s an entire animal kingdom waiting out there, and yet the proprietor of this method picked sheep as the chosen form of visual imagery. Was he or she a farmer? Was he or she an animal rights activist? Or did he or she simply find sheep amusing? I guess we’ll never know.
Another procedure involves me playing a song in my head that can effectively drown out all my thoughts, musings and aforementioned questions. That tends to work quite well for me. But there will be one of those rare instances where the lyrics and melody are compelling enough to keep me awake and my foot moving along with the beat.
Writing this blog post seems to count as another method too. My eyes are beginning to close.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
-
This is something that’s been on my mind for a while now.
Van Gogh, the profoundly gifted painter was plagued with mental illness and frustration throughout his life. Yet he was so brilliant and articulate when it came to his art.
Or Sylvia Plath. Her poems always have those morose undertones which indicates how she must’ve been feeling at the time.
Even one of my favourite bands wrote their best and their most emotionally charged songs on their second album, where the songwriter lamented his feelings of isolation, pain, longing, disillusionment, anger and overall negativity. Even though at first the album was a commercial failure, it went on to receive cult status. And currently the same band, who now seem to be happy, radiating positive vibes and quite free from turmoil, are writing songs which are sewn and fitted for the mishap that we call the 21st Century. They seem mainstream and robotic, rather than their early material where they were more honest and original.
I’m just questioning the fact that is it possible to create a piece of work that has an overwhelming out pour of negative emotions, just so that it can go on to become great? Or is it possible to be peaceful, shiny and happy to create something that you hope can be just as great, yet it comes off as mediocre, mainstream and boring? Do people always need negativity to influence every creative muscle and organ in their bodies? Does negativity always define success? It just doesn’t seem quite clear to me.
Van Gogh, the profoundly gifted painter was plagued with mental illness and frustration throughout his life. Yet he was so brilliant and articulate when it came to his art.
Or Sylvia Plath. Her poems always have those morose undertones which indicates how she must’ve been feeling at the time.
Even one of my favourite bands wrote their best and their most emotionally charged songs on their second album, where the songwriter lamented his feelings of isolation, pain, longing, disillusionment, anger and overall negativity. Even though at first the album was a commercial failure, it went on to receive cult status. And currently the same band, who now seem to be happy, radiating positive vibes and quite free from turmoil, are writing songs which are sewn and fitted for the mishap that we call the 21st Century. They seem mainstream and robotic, rather than their early material where they were more honest and original.
I’m just questioning the fact that is it possible to create a piece of work that has an overwhelming out pour of negative emotions, just so that it can go on to become great? Or is it possible to be peaceful, shiny and happy to create something that you hope can be just as great, yet it comes off as mediocre, mainstream and boring? Do people always need negativity to influence every creative muscle and organ in their bodies? Does negativity always define success? It just doesn’t seem quite clear to me.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)