Daily Inspiration: David Lynch on Suffering
"It's good for the artist to understand conflict and stress. Those things can give you ideas. But I guarantee you, if you have enough stress, you won't be able to create. And if you have enough conflict, it will just get in the way of your creativity. You can understand conflict, but you don't have to live in it."
In his book, “Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity,” genius film director David Lynch explains the phenomenon of his ultra-dark and disturbing films coming from a man who is such a vigorous proponent of mediation, happiness, and peace. In the above quote, Lynch explains that the artist does not need to personally suffer, he only needs to understand suffering. He goes on to say:
“The more the artist is suffering, the less creative he is going to be. It’s less likely that he is going to enjoy his work and less likely that he will be able to do really good work.”
What do you think: Is suffering integral to the creative process, or should the artist be able to create free from his own misery?
"Drifting on a sad song" by Mario Sánchez Nevado
