DAY 051 – DESIGNING DANGEROUSLY

Oceans

I’ve been reading a book titled The Van Gogh Blues: The Creative Person’s Path through Depression by Dr. Eric Maisel. I’ll let you do the math. However, before you break out into a cold sweat and this gets awkward, let me assure you, dear reader, that things are pretty okay. I’m not going to cut my ear off anytime soon–no one wants a one-eared sound designer.

I’ve found in my time with many of you that there is no one definition or type for artists and people with the creative impulse. A lot of different things make us tick. However, I know some of you–because I’ve talked with you–experience the sads. I think of us like oceans: sometimes the tide is high, sometimes the tide is low, but it’s dynamic. Insert joke about artists being a salty bunch. The call to action is when it seems like a low tide settles in, our harbor is empty, and we’re stagnating. Ideas just sink, there’s nothing buoyant in our day-to-day experience. Maisel purports that these low times stem from a deficit of meaning, and that creative people are fueled by real, authentic meaning.

Maisel challenges us to be the makers of our own authentic meaning. While it’s always in flux and available for revision, that we need to anchor ourselves to a conclusion that satisfactorily answers the Big Why. The first step is developing (one might say designing) a personal creed, which sounds hokey, but I’m going to try.

I would never encourage anyone to change their therapy regimen or medication without supervision. I will tell you that I’ve found what I’ve read so far challenging and encouraging. If this strikes a chord with you, if you think that you could improve on your Big Why, I’ll be exploring this a bit further and it might be worth you checking out The Van Gogh Blues. I wish you all (and am myself pursuing), as Maisel puts it, a “meaningful life, meaningful work, and meaningful days.” Love and joy to you.