"How can a person use difficulties productively to develop excellence, create beauty, and reach their full potential?"
A woman who has a love for music, and the music is the only way how she can escape her abusive relationship. She writes about her troubles with her relationship that others can relate to.
This answers De Botton's question: Why are difficulties, negative emotions and experiences, and suffering necessary?
You can't produce beautiful art without going through an ugly patch.
For example, Adele who was going through her relationship problems, and now look at her. Her pain and sorrows is now shared with everyone in one of her best albums.
This is extremely true in the field of arts. So many songs and artworks are derived from less than optimal situations. These songs and artworks, sadly, are often the ones that people can relate most closely to. For example, there are hundreds of thousands of songs that are about the death of a loved one. This is something everyone can relate to. However, everyone cannot relate to being in love with someone who reciprocates your love and treats you well. Difficulties in life can bring about excellent pieces, but so can wonderful experiences. Maybe some people just respond differently or better to certain stimuli. What do you think?
ReplyDeleteThat's an excellent point, Paige! It reminds me of something that Le Guin says in the last story we read: "This is the treason of the artist: a refusal to admit the banality of evil and the terrible boredom of pain. ... But to praise despair is to condemn delight, to embrace violence is to lose hold of everything else." Why can't great art be created out of join, love, celebration, and beauty?
DeleteI agree. It just depends on the person .
ReplyDelete