Why Creativity demands Mental Suffering?
Written by: Javeria Khan Date: April 25 2024
Introduction
Artists are people rich in artistic intelligence. Painters, writers, musicians, filmmakers, poets, etc. are any person who is creative, imaginary, and has the aesthetic sense to deliver their emotions and feelings to the world. I want to define the personalities of artists in detail, which then helps us understand the vice of their personality.
Personality type of artists.
Another name for artists is individualism. They are in search of themselves and are enriched with feelings and emotions, which often makes them highly sensitive and intuitive. They want to explain themselves through works of art.
They are highly self-motivated and conscious and move inward in a search for themselves. They constantly feel they need to find themselves because they are unique. They create art for self-expression. At the same time, they feel they shouldn’t be trapped in self-consciousness and should feel the real world. This tension between self-awareness and self-transcendence is solved through creativity.
They create art to express their deepest emotions and feelings, giving it an aesthetic touch so that it will be acceptable and appreciated by the outside world. They feel liberated and relaxed by expressing themselves through art, but the irony is that the same art usually becomes a source of distress and agony for them.
The simplest definition of art is any work or action created by artists to express their feelings and thoughts. Any person can create art, regardless of their background.
They have a special ability to express various aspects of life that are often overlooked by average people.
According to scientific evidence by Carl Jung, Karen Horney, and Sigmund Fried, our personality development started in the womb of a mother and was mostly completed in childhood. It defines a specific personality trait. By the time we are aware of our personality type, it has already been developed. So we can derive the hypothesis that artists are born.
” All truly great art is optimistic. The individual artist is happy in his creative work. The fact that practically all great art is tragic does not in any way change the above thesis”, Upton Sin Clair
The intelligence of artists.
As I mentioned earlier in my blog, artists have high artistic intelligence, which could also be the reason why they are never happy. The difference between a genius and a high achiever is their originality and authenticity. Can a person generate new ideas, and are artists masters of their creations?
Rowan Atkinson, Magnus Carlsen, Friedrich Nietzsche, Leonardo da Vinci, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe, etc. are a few examples of artists whose high IQ is clinically determined through their work.
They are also high in conscientiousness; we could be the reason why they are so unhappy. They are introverted and intuitive; they are introspective and highly meticulous, which can sustain creativity and transform all their painful and sad moments into art. They transcendence to the highest form of creativity. A healthy artist renews and redeems the self by transcending the ego and turning all their life experiences into opportunities for growth. Healthy artists have a kind of double vision of human nature; they can see the devil and angel in the same person because they are more aware of human emotion.
Why are artists never happy?
I have already explained the personality and psychology of artists. Every personality type has its own vice. The vices of artists are perfectionism, excessive daydreaming, and alienation from society.
A true artist never appreciates his art. He always finds some flaws in it, and they think there is room for improvement. Degrading their emotions and feelings causes inner turmoil within themselves, resulting in self-torment and self-hatred. People who run after perfectionism make their lives difficult and unhappy. Perfectionism doesn’t occur. It may be easy for others to get out of this delusion, but that isn’t the case with Dreams. They give inspiration and motivation; they often indulge in imagination, but when their dreams fail, They become self-inhibiting and angry at themselves, depressed, happy, and alienated from themselves and others. Emotions begin to paralyze. They are tormented by delusional self-contempt, self-reproaches, and, dangerously, self-hatred. This creates an inescapable loop of sadness. That’s why they are never happy because they don’t love and respect themselves.
As soon as artists feel that they need to alienate themselves in order to find authentic selves,they are going in the wrong direction. No matter how important that search may seem, a direct search for themselves is a temptation, which eventually leads to despair and tragedy.
Being ashamed of yourself, fatigued, and unable to function. They stay withdrawn to protect their precious self-image and to conceal it. Another reason for hiding in their den is rejection and unacceptable behavior from other people.
You have noticed that your favorite artists usually take years between their comebacks. They have lost connection with society and turned towards their inner selves in the search for creativity.
Neurotic diseases, suicides, and personality disorders are much more common in such people.
The Artist’s Curse.
Various definitions have been allotted to it. Some say it is a discontentment of artists with their art when others enjoy it. Others say it’s a condition when artists have to sell their work to make a living out of it.
I agree with the first definition more; you are chasing perfectionism in your work, which can be achieved, and these cycles continue throughout your life.
“Don’t be thinking that creativity is such a good thing. It is a high-risk, high-return strategy, so if you are creative, You are going to have a hell of a time monetizing your creativity. It is virtually impossible; it is really, really difficult,” said by Jordan Peterson.
If you happen to be a creative artist, you can bring something original to the table that has never been seen by people before. You will have a have a hard time convincing other people of your creative work because they don’t look at the product as you do. This begins the roadmap for depression and anxiety.
This proves that social status is as important as generating creative work for artists. Through it, you will make people believe in your work; otherwise, other people will never understand you.
One of the major setbacks of an artist’s work is their inability to relate to the general population. They are different; they can’t get along with other people, which makes them socially inept. It also proves my previous hypothesis that lack of recognition and social invalidation make their lives harder; not all get the blessings of supportive friends and family. That’s why I have mentioned the key difference between high achievers and creative people.
Stubbornness and perseverance are their core feelings when it comes to their work. They may try to achieve perfection, but at the same time, they are thin-skinned to criticism. Especially if it demands compromising on the nature of their art. They didn’t care if it was going to be successful or if people would like it.
For future reading.
https://www.verywellmind.com/the-link-between-depression-and-creativity-5094193a
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