Making of an artist

An empty stomach is better than a full one, Van Gogh and a broken heart is better than happiness, never forget that.

                   - Weissenbruch to Van Gogh (as quoted in The Lust for Life)
                         
'The Lust for Life' is among the few books which contains words so powerful and descriptions so moving that I desperately wished to go back to the Van Gogh era only to have witnessed the life of a man so inspirational. To see him in the physical form, only to note what in his appearance bore the hint of his genius - his eyes? his gait? his talks?

While reading the book, and specifically when I came across the above mentioned Weissenbruch's advice, I was instantly reminded of Beethoven and Mozart and their phenomenal passion to create music, fighting all odds.

Then-
Is pain and suffering a necessary ingredient in the making of a great artist?

While I was still figuring out the answer, I came across this today-

Forget your personal tragedy. We are all bitched from the start and you especially have to hurt like hell before you can write seriously. 

                 -Hemingway to Fitzgerald in this letter 

There is a pattern here. Similar message from the greatest we have known in their respective fields.

At this point, I am reminded of Anurag Kashyap's life ( I am a big fan of his movies) too. Pain, suffering, heart break eventually led him to create such beautiful movies. I realize Kashyap is a rather strange mention amid Van Gogh, Beethoven & Hemingway but there is a common element between all.

While there are great lives seemingly giving us the message 'pain realizes the genius', there have been geniuses nurtured by happiness and recognition too.

I am still unsure of how I want to and should conclude this post but I have a strong urge to believe in and agree with Weissenbruch and Hemingway.

They make for a mighty source of inspiration in difficult times. And who does not have them?

In fate or in chaos?

Unless of course there is no such thing as chance;...in which case, we should either - optimistically- get up and cheer, because if everything is planned in advance, then we all have a meaning, and are spared the terror of knowing oursleves to be random, without a why; or else, of course, we might - as pessimists - give up right here and now, understanding the futility of thought decision action , since nothing we think makes any difference anyway; things will be as they will. Where, then, is optimism? In fate or in chaos?

- Saleem Sinai

(Midnight's Children)

Our little secret

Just like that one day we will become a story too.
Only untold by anyone.
Unwritten in any book.
Unplayed in any music.
Uncaptured in any image.
Undiscovered in time. 

Moments and wishes

There are moments I wish to pause and linger on a bit.

And then there are those, seemingly from an alternate universe, I wish to empower to redefine my life for good.

Guess this wish has been made by this stealthy fellow Regret, lurking in the labyrinths of, I think my subconscious.

That precious something

I believe that everyone has their Kohinoor. That precious something whose elusiveness and absence churns impatience and cultivates desperation. The thought of which illuminates the soul and contents the mind. Burns the imagination with passion and colours existence with a fury of lust and labour.

Ironically, it is easy and yet so difficult to recognize this Kohinoor in our story.

Happiness

Not always do we get to write the end of a story we are part of.

Maybe that is why, sometimes, happiness lies not in achieving but being discovered.

You Learn

After a while you learn the subtle difference
Between holding a hand and chaining a soul,

And you learn that love doesn't mean leaning
And company doesn't mean security.


And you begin to learn that kisses aren't contracts
And presents aren't promises,


And you begin to accept your defeats
With your head up and your eyes open
With the grace of a woman, not the grief of a child,


And you learn to build all your roads on today
Because tomorrow's ground is too uncertain for plans
And futures have a way of falling down in mid-flight.


After a while you learn...
That even sunshine burns if you get too much.


So you plant your garden and decorate your own soul,
Instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.


And you learn that you really can endure...

That you really are strong

And you really do have worth...

And you learn and learn...

With every good-bye you learn.

--- Jorge Luis Borges