Hello there.

"Artist" is a heavy title to carry and proclaim to have. I don't like to hear people say they are "artists", unless they truly are then they should put it in their business card, to fully express their justified arrogance.

I used to believe that the rugged, intense and torture figure, scribbling away, composing, painting in some isolated hutt in the woods, with a bottle of scotch as his company, was the romanticized, but fake version of the artist. But reality proved me wrong.

There's no doubt that most great artists suffered one way or another. Either they inflicted their own tragedy upon themselves or the circumstances bred their fiery spirit.

Pick a random name, Beethoven, Dostoyevsky, Picaso etc. Take a look into their lives and you'll find out they were tormented by their own demons.

But wait. If you pick a phone book and you blindly pick a name, if you dig deeper than a two minute conversation, you will find out they have also plenty of reasons to suffer. So, what's the deal here?

First of all, let's answer the question "Can you create great art if you don't suffer?"

Answering this, will also answer our main question.

In short, no. But there's more to it.

Before 1950 (?), a hard life was a guarantee. Unless you were born rich or royal, you couldn't move up social hierarchies (fucking Marx and his theory of class :() ). You grew up in a shitty, stinky house and you died 50 meters away. You were lucky if you made it out of your mother's womb for fuck's sake...

Life in hell mode. The extreme difficulty to survive was built in. You were bound to overcome serious problems that would question your morals, your beliefs, your will to live and exist. And that created masterpieces.

"But again, WHY?"

Creativity exists in limitations

When you are faced with adversity that forces you to occupy space (either intellectual or physical) you don't want to, you have to find ways to make sense of your situation and escape.

Take football for example, something most people understand. There are certain rules you have to follow in order to put the leather ball inside the net. We see amazing feats of physical condition because of that.

What differentiates the artist from the peasant is that he doesn't back down. He takes a neccessary (for society, think about that) steps into the unknown and faces whatever darkness lurks there.

Why Artists Suffer?

Because they take a step in the shadow. They endure the pain and let it transform them. Instead of crying about their misery, they fuel the dark energy to create.

No, you don't have to starve or be an alcoholic, epsecially in this day and age. Besides the OBVIOUS talent, an artist will go for a trip in his mind.

The suffering is a result of that trip. It's scary as hell and many never come back as a whole.

In order to create, they must stay away from sanity for prolonged periods of time. It's the trips to the underworld that create art AND suffering.

Back then, you didn't have a choice but to go. Nowdays, you have to make a conscious choice or else you will be forced to rot in a hell you haven't even begin to imagine.
-Thatredbeardguy