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Depression and Writing 9/27/2009 1:16:05 PM
http://blog.adinapelle.com/2009/09/27/depression-in-writing.aspx “There are things which a man is afraid to tell even to himself, and every decent man has a number of such things stored away in his mind.” F. Dostoyevsky
Somebody commented once on my work as being “downward spiral of fleeting magnitude into discontent and sadness.” It made me think and ultimately acknowledge the fact that whether it is fictional writing or biographical, crafting a story is an involved and demanding process. Involved because it requires full attention and demanding because complete honesty and courage facing personal demons and dark places are essential in good, unforgettable writing. It makes memorable literature and it places it on a visceral and undeniable emotional human scale.
Do I go in dark places when I write? Absolutely.
Back when I was growing up, nobody dealt honestly with depression, and adding insult to injury, depression was perceived as a sign of weakness, failure and a step back on the evolution ladder .(In retrospect it looks like the equivalent of a social wedgies). I am pondering now if this old school of thought was failure proof. Many from my generation are great over achieved professionals, pillars of their community, some with potential political careers looming in their future. Others entered middle age carrying some degree of bitterness, compulsion, denial, and addiction. .
Where is the balance ?
Kierkegaard was quoted saying:
“In addition to my other numerous acquaintances, I have one more intimate confidant. My depression is the most faithful mistress I have known -- no wonder, then, that I return the love.”
Point is, honest writing is liberating for both: writer and reader. I write about betrayal, about love and general human condition be that at its best or at its worst and what I managed to figure out so far is that just like a spotting a genius, nothing makes us guess the unique and the unusual beforehand. It only becomes obvious after wards. It exhorts us to find out why we do things in a certain way . It makes us human, frail, and vulnerable.. Dostoyevsky is a perfect example of an artist transcending his personal woes into his writing. His work is a collection of existential struggles and journeys from darkness to redemption.
It became clear to me at some point, that to deliver memorable literature, a writer, cautiously and somewhat skillfully, uses full arsenals of psychological and emotional weapons ..
Today, I embrace and own my melancholy the same way I control my emotions and my intelligence.
