Daily Inspiration: Marc Maron on the ‘Life Preserver’
The opening monologue portion of comedian Marc Maron’s genius podcast WTF is an important resource for wry observations about the (occasionally) troubling inner turmoil of the creative mind. Maron uses the first 10 to 20 minutes of each episode to expound on the difficulties of his relationship, his professional life, his body image, his addictions, and the art he both admires and creates. When Maron is functioning at his most raw (as is very often the case on WTF) he reveals amazing insights into the highly sensitive, overactive mind that many creative people share.
On episode 431 of WTF, featuring Queen of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme, Maron discussed how so many of us need art to (sometimes litrally) save our lives.
"Creativity must be the life preserver for darkness. Sometimes your creativity, your expression of yourself, what you put out into the world, or what you put out from your hands or your throat; something that you give form to, will save you. Sometimes some things that you write down are literally things that are keeping you from drowning. These words are keeping you from drowning. These words are keeping you from falling off of that mountain, from letting go of that edge. This song, these words, this movement, this piece of art, this painting...saving my f#@king life. Do you know that feeling? Coming through darkness, folks."
I’ve pulled an inspirational bit from Maron’s show before, and you can fully expect me to do so again, because as I said, the man is a never-ending font of neurotic/artistic wisdom.
[Header image: “Life Line” by Mark Czerwonka]
