I was going to comment on Marc Maron's latest stand-up on Netflix, "Thinky Pain" but I actually haven't finished it. I just love the title. As someone who has had bouts of depression and an overactive anxious mind I realize that phrase really encapsulates the struggle of an artist. We feel too much, think too much. Other people have normal issues, we have thinky pain.
Thinky pain is what causes artists to take drugs to try and control the mechanism of inspiration. Because that mechanism is painful, it hurts as it makes you remember things you don't want to remember or makes odd connections to things in everyday life and you wonder, "Am I the only one who sees this?" " Does this even make sense?"
But is it is the artist's view and interpretation that begets art that causes self-reflection in the viewer, the audience. We release our strange ideas and concepts on the world. And the world assents that we have spoken truth. Or the world decries our odd-view. For some artists, it takes time for the world to recognize the truth of what we have realized and revealed through our art.
Philip K. Dick comes to mind. Almost all painters, visual artists. The truth is that the greatest parts of society don't pay very well. At least not in this modern economy. All those we revered in the past would not hack it today.
But back to the "thinky pain", a lot of people don't take mental health seriously enough. Doesn't matter who you are, what age or gender. If you take care of your body, take care of your mind. Make sure your coping mechanisms are healthy and rational. Find someone you trust to talk you through your troubles and if necessary, take your meds.
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