Ive noticed that many musicians…
Struggle with somethings like drugs, and other stuff…
My question is this…
does being creative and having imagination come with an existential price?
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Creativity is driven by emotions dark, light, somewhere in between.
My answer would be no, until the passion goes to obsession…
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I’d say it’s more of an outlet for our issues, really. Or at least it is for me, and I have a lot of them.
I could say a lot more about it, but it kind of puts me in a vulnerable place. The short version is that I wouldn’t be pouring myself into projects all the time if I had a normal life, I’d be doing normal things instead.
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i think just alot of folks struggle with stuff period. as slime said, it’s an outlet and i think that makes it more visible to the world, perhaps for all our benefit. how many busyness bros do you think have cocain addictions, or how many blue collar workers are alcoholics? i think alot of them find some comfort in someone who’s job it is to express these feelings and struggles, letting them know they’re not alone in feeling that way.
on the other hand being neurotypical maybe does lend itself to people looking for ways to express themselves because they feel misunderstood. i dont know what the chicken and the egg is there. would someone with a creative imagination and no known predispositions to mental health issues be nonetheless predisposed to developing stuff due to simply looking at things a little differently? hard to say but i don’t think its that easy of a straight line to draw there, especially since there are so many variables at play that it would be close to impossible to draw that as a clear conclusion.
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As many of you altready noted, causuality is hard to determine in this context. I think it can be both cause and effect of psychological issues, but doesn’t have to be. I don’t think that creativity and imagination per se are problematic in this context. But doing something creative opens up a lot of doors for positive as well as negative results. Imho there def are some factors that increase the danger of negative effects of creative work (and probably also factors that increase the probability that certain issues lead to creative work), such as:
- doing it for success or any form of external validation
- taking yourself too serious
- strong perfectionism
- problems with self-esteem in general or with accepting negative feedback
- constant upward comparisons if they are a source of negative feelings
…and so on…
But yeah, a very interesting question for sure!
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Answering my own question..
The darkness was already there or had already been experienced…the being creative part is just an outlet or a medium most of the time…
So being creative doesnt bring about darkness…
But those with darkness are drawn to being creative somewhat.
Like how power attracts assholes.
When power is really about managing and fulfilling responsibility
Yeah, this is the answer I think.
I know that music and artwork is kinda an outlet for my struggles, which is part of the reason I’m into such agressive hardcore and stuff. Also getting support and positive affirmations from people is comforting, and persuades me to make more music. I also find that the more intelligent people are the more emotionally complex they are, and music is actually quite an intelligent area of creativity, at least to me.
Sometimes I think fans of artists don’t really have a reason to do some of the same things, but like minds atttact, and music is kinda the same. Radiohead = emo = fans, for example.
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I’m not sure I buy that. For myself, there are absolutely times I’ve used music to run away from problems in the rest of my life. I like to think I don’t do that anymore, that music is me working out my brain and pushing myself in ways that I’m not getting elsewhere. But that doesn’t come from a dark place per se, it comes from a place where I’m comfortable elsewhere in life and I’m using my music to push myself out of my comfort zone a bit.
IDK, I was the most miserable I ever was in life about 3-6 months ago and it didn’t lead to creativity. It’s only now that I’m pulling out of that headspace that I can kinda start to work on music again. I did nothing for months, which is the longest I had gone without working since I started music.
But then I’m not sure how “creative” my work is.
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Both of those might be seen as dark, technically.
One thing I’ve noticed is that a lot of artists (especially those who don’t have delusions about fame) seem pretty decent when it comes to psychopathic traits. It’s hard to have ulterior motives when there’s really not a whole hell of a lot to gain from any of it, except maybe some cool community spirit or sharing a vibe with someone. Maybe some forms of art kind of require some real human elements and sensitivity? I don’t really know.
Those who thirst for power over others, well, that’s kind of a “no shit” scenario 
. Society can benefit from those people, obviously, but on a personal level, no thanks!
I’m with you on this. I might be one of the few people who has never had depression before (I genuinely don’t know what that feels like), but any time I’m going through something serious, it’s usually tough to do much of anything. People who can keep creating through really hard times must have some kind of superhuman ability, imo
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I’d say that every now and then it feels like more of a curse than a blessing, but most of the time it feels kind of like a super power. Also much of it is learning to accept who you are and adjust to the idiosyncrasies that come with thinking this way, at least for me.
It really just cycles around, but that might also be my general mental illness.
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