Heartbroken? Terrified? Furious? Create Your Masterpiece
The curious connection between tough times and creativity
Shall I tell you what I find beautiful about you? You are at your very best when things are worst. — Starman (Jeff Bridges) from the 1984 film Starman
Say what you like about isolation and anxiety; I’m finding it to be fertile ground for my creative endeavors. I haven’t produced written content so prolifically and consistently in over 20 years, and never without being formally employed to do so. Here are some examples from history that may inspire you to do the same.
Thanks to Rosanne Cash’s informative tweet, we are now all aware that Shakespeare wasn’t wasting his time in quarantine playing the Elizabethan equivalent of Words with Friends. He was writing King Lear. Feel like a slacker? You should because Shakespeare wrote at least 12 plays between 1603 and 1613.
London playhouses were closed for a total of 78 months during that time due to the bubonic plague. It was one of the most prolific periods of the Bard’s career. It makes one wonder if there hadn’t been a plague, would he have written some of them at all? His acting and managing jobs at the Globe Theater suspended, he used the extra time to write. Follow Shakespeare’s example, and you, too, may find inspiration in isolation.
Hard times doing hard time
Shakespeare wasn’t the only one who made use of enforced downtime to be creative. The following authors did some of their best work in the ultimate shelter-in-place scenario: prison.
- Miguel de Cervantes — Don Quixote
- Martin Luther King, Jr. — Letters from Birmingham Jail
- Sir Thomas Malory — Le Morte d’Arthur
- Nelson Mandela — Conversations with Myself
- Sir Walter Raleigh — History of the World, Volume I
- Marquis de Sade — Justine
- Oscar Wilde — De Profundis
Musicians have also used incarceration for inspiration. Rappers recorded these albums while they were serving time:
- Lifer’s Group — Living Proof
- Mac Dre — Back N the Hood
- C-Murder — The Truest Shit I Ever Said
- X-Raided — Xorcist
- Max B — Toothy Wavy
Adolescents, addicts, and alcoholics
While adversity and isolation can foster creative drive, if not managed, it can be a dangerous thing. A few years back, a Gallup Poll Panel survey asked 1,000 people how they felt about their high school years. Only 7% said it was the best time of their lives. Adolescence is a time of high highs and low lows. Many discover their creative impulses in high school, their lives veritable pinball machines of emotions. They’re angry, sad, confused, disappointed, in love, happy, and depressed. That tsunami of feelings needs an outlet, and that outlet for creatives is to make art.
Adolescence is also a time when mental health issues can emerge. It’s not uncommon for young people to use drugs and alcohol in an attempt to self-medicate. These habits are more likely to become destructive when mental illness is involved. Bad habits acquired in high school can continue long after graduation. The ability to manage my state is something I’ve struggled with in my life, as well.
People speak of the 27 Club, referencing the unusual number of creatives who died at age 27. Most of their deaths involved substance abuse and, in some cases, mental illness. That “fire in the belly” that fuels creativity, if not managed, can also ignite tragedy. Examples of 27 Club “members” include musicians Jimi Hendrix and Amy Winehouse and artists Jean-Michel Basquiat and Dash Snow.
Pro tip: Drinking and drugs will not make you a better actor, artist, writer, or musician, but they might make you a dead one. Unless you are one of the greats to begin with, this will not be a smart career move.
No phone, no pool, no pets, I ain’t got no cigarettes
Financial distress, for some people, is a great motivator. You might be one of them. (Take a look at your bank or retirement account and find out.) A lot of us have heard how J.K. Rowling began writing about Harry Potter in coffee shops because she was broke, and the heat was off in her flat.
Classic film star James Cagney was in art school but quit because his family couldn’t afford the tuition. Desperate for money, he heard about a show that needed male dancers. Although not a dancer, Cagney signed up to audition and convinced friends to give him a crash course in the steps required to join the chorus. He not only got the job, he’s remembered as one of the great dancers of Hollywood’s Golden Age.
Whether you can no longer afford to eat or you saw something on your laptop you just had to have, the need for money is universal and can inspire a masterpiece. (It can also inspire a haiku that will earn you precisely 17 cents on Medium. But hey! You’re creating.)
So use whatever time and motivation you can summon for creative endeavors and keep at it. Whether you conjure up a dream or a dud, you’re making progress, and you’re getting better. Like others before me, I’m finding it’s worth it. I think you will, too.
©2020, Denise Shelton. All rights reserved.
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