David Lynch on Depression and Art
Вставка
- Опубліковано 24 лис 2021
- I compiled several clips from interviews of David Lynch talking about mental illness in artists and how it can effect creativity.
Sources:
"Are you a genius, or a really sick person?" from:
• David Lynch Canadian T... (Blue Velvet Interview)
"I am so depressed" from:
• INLAND EMPIRE - behind... (Behind the Scenes of Inland Empire)
"I had a reason to go to therapy" from:
• David Lynch explains w...
All other video clips came from the same UA-cam video, that I am unable to track back down at the moment. The clips in that come from various lectures and interviews.
Music:
Laura Palmer's Theme
(from the Twin Peaks Soundtrack)
by Angelo Badalamenti
• Laura Palmer's Theme (...
Version without music:
(and a subtitle fix)
• Lynch Depression Redux - Фільми й анімація
Redux Version
ua-cam.com/video/KCN52DZUQPw/v-deo.html
Multiple people asked for the music to be removed.
I also changed some other minor details.
You just put what I’ve been trying to say in so gracefully simple words.
Also affirming there’s a great chance life happened to me, not for me.
The thought of positivity can feel so provocing in that state.
You brought color to my life. I adore you. Thank you.
@@annikatornlind727 stfu
Multiple people are entitled cows.
I'm sorry
Are they kidding me? I love the music.
There's this romantic idea of the depressed artists but in reality depression is the killer of creativity. Even if it lets you physically get out of bed to do the work, it's going to viciously criticise every idea that pops into your head so that they die before you can even start to develop them. I woke up feeling creative today. I worked on a few melody ideas, wrote a pages of a script I'm picking at, and then the depression came in out of nowhere and all I wanted to do was sleep. I wasn't tired, I just didn't want to be awake. Depression is not a catalyst for creativity.
I still think it goes both ways honestly. For me, an everyday struggler, some of the only joy I really have in life is from creating music. Yes, depression can get in the way of that, but art still keeps me motivated to get up and look forward to making something greater. Is the depressed artist cliché? Yes. Do you need stress to create good art? No. Does stress create good art? Sometimes, it absolutely does. Some frustration and sadness is essential in making certain kinds of art, it isn't necessarily required, but it can certainly add a certain amount of natural depth to the artwork that otherwise might not be there. Just look at Fur Elise by Beethoven. So some amount of stress and tragedy can produce beautiful artwork. On the other hand, if you're SO stressed and tragically crushed by every day life, then of course you can't create your best work. But I think there's a fine line.
I recently had an experience where I had a close to paralyzing evening of depression. But, I have learned some basic meditation and was able to observe the thought processes going on. It was crazy to notice how every new bit of motivation and the accompanied mental imagery tried to emerge, and just before it would turn into action it just got muffled like a tiny blade of grass getting smothered by a heavy, gloomy blanket.
I definitely cannot create anything while depressed - but when not depressed I can create art of the depressive experiences. Doesn't mean depression is needed for art in general, but depression can be sublimated into art after the bout has passed.
Exactly. When depressed, you don't like anything. How are you supposed to pick between good and bad ideas when you don't like any?
So true! 😔
When I'm really depressed I might not even feel like playing video games
@@Danny_Cruz interesting take
A surprisingly optimistic idea. Not art through suffering, but art despite suffering.
Not ‘despite’ suffering, but absence of suffering while creating art
@@parthyadav3733 Yes, that's what I meant! :) The suffering does not contribute to the art.
@@Karanagi depends on what art you want to make.
Adolf went trough that
Art has nothing to do with suffering. Art is self-expression. Everyone is an artist. Creativity is the ability to solve challenges in unconventional ways. That has nothing to do with what he says.
“The more you suffer, the less you want to create”
Amen to that, had a lot happening in my life the last few years and it has been hell doing my studies. ^^*
@@00Kuja00 What's interesting is that Roland Barthes (in Fragments d'un discours amoureux) explains that the more you're in love with somebody, the less you manage to write about this person and this love.
I guess some feelings (love, hate, suffering) can't be described when they are too intense.
@@Nclm1 Know the feeling. I am in love with a person so much it hurts and I don't think it's mutual. :/
I feel this
Eat chocolate cake and drink coffee. Eat a Hershey bar. ❤ Rocket Up 🚀 Rachet Up. ❤
i love how he didn't romanticise mental illness. It tends to be a glorified trope that you have to be tortured artist to create.
"he didn't need to be suffering to create those paintings"
Yeah but he fucking did cause dude was a schizophrenic! I doubt David lynch can fix that shit.
you must be American
But then you could argue that, he may not have been suffering while painting, but his suffering outside of that helped him to create.
@johnmartinez7440 Not really. In Van Gogh's case, most of his painting were made while he was in treatment. As another comment already mentioned, I believe that a certain amount of stress or sadness can help create certain types of art - as a way to get it out of the system, maybe -, but there's a fime line between this level of depression and stress that helps create, and the level that paralyses you.
Finally someone who actually understands depression and its impact on creativity.
I think artists are often people who feel very deeply, and tend to have big ups and downs. For this reason, an artist could be on a high, and creating a lot of great work, and then be down in the pit of despair a couple months later. People make the mistake of pointing to artists who killed themselves or suffered from depression as proof that you must be miserable to make great art, but they don’t realize that those artists were not miserable when in their most vibrant periods of creativity; on the contrary, those periods were their happiest. You must be able to understand suffering, without making a permanent residence in it.
His fingers have a life of their own
THIS. Back when I watched a lot of interviews with this guy that finger jiggling really infected me
I think the most essential thing you want to have when creating art is clarity. Depression is a fog and a moment of real clarity in the midst of pain can be so sweet and spark something great. I love this video because I really think we gotta get over this romantization of the depressed artist. Nothing good will come out of an artist that has lost balance
True
Well said, the clarity that comes after the depression is the driving force. You can't have the good without the bad.
Clinical depression is more of a spectrum: if you're at an extreme, can't get out of bed, are lethargic etc . Then it penalizes creativity.
But truth is that emotional sensitivity is key for art. Art is all about emotions.
At least that's one it is in music, i'm not as knowledgable in other types of arts.
Jazz, romantic era, impressionism, bossa nova, etc.
It's not about being depressed, but i'd say it's about a certain type of melancholy.
Saudade is a portuguese world that describes well this phenomenon: "an emotional state of melancholic or profoundly nostalgic longing for a beloved yet absent something or someone".
Both "sad" and "happy" to put it in simple words.
Lastly, I think human nature have natural appeal for tragedy (and sadness) since the beginning of times. The most memorable and heart shattering art pieces are usually tragic: It's a carricatural thing to observe, but bad endings and tragedy are appealing (romeo and juliet, titanic, lala land, casablanca 1942, once upon a time in the west etc).
@@yulian7435 "Saudade is a portuguese word that describes well this phenomenon: "an emotional state of melancholic or profoundly nostalgic longing for a beloved yet absent something or someone".
Both "sad" and "happy" to put it in simple words".
Exactly. You are not describing a depressed person. You are describing a person that is dealing with struggles. A person full of emotions that is dealing with struggles.
@@Atlas65 yes i'm aware. There's clinical depression and "depression". My point was that from depression can birth beauty. From slavery came N spirituals, gospel then jazz. I agree it's still not depression, but pretty damn tough you'd agree.
Overall, from negative feelings and "sadness" can arise beauty.
"You can understand conflict, but you don't have to suffer in it". That is so profund.
As a creative person who's going through serious anxiety problems, Lynch speaks the absolute truth.
When you're depressed or anxious like me, you're not thinking about creativity. You're in survival mode. You're holding yourself together so that you won't fall apart.
And worst of all, trying to be creative during this period creates a negative feedback loop. You try to create but your anxiety is distracting you, and the more you try to create, the more you see what you create SUCKS, and that makes you even MORE anxious, because you start asking yourself "Why do I suck? Have I always sucked? Why aren't I strong enough to push through this?"
So accurate.
I'm in this situation right now. You actually made me think, thank you.
I'm not an "artist" but I'm a software engineer and I have projects I want to build (personnally and in the company I work in)
I generally tend to push myself to keep creating when I'm low. However, something made me say to myself lately "how about you take a break from coding when you feel really low".
I actually believe that's what I'll do more. Why? Because like you just said, it can be problematic to work at 5% of your abilities.
Last day at work I wanted to explain a technical problem about a thing I worked in, and I just couldn't explain it, I had a little panick attack in front of my colleagues (they were just 2) because I couldnt concentrate and make sense. That was so cringy. I was like "...and...euuuuh....no...euuuh..." for several minutes. I said "ok let me do it again" and I ended up explaining it ok.
But I felt like crap.
I really believe if I just had take a full break the day before, and if I just accepted on the morning "I'll make a very resumed explanation of this problem for now", it would have been great.
"I'll only practice this thing I love which is programming when I feel I'm not in too much a depressive state. Else, it will make me love this thing I'm passionated about less, and I'll associate my performance with my performance in depressed mode "
However, I feel like I still can learn even when feeling depressed.
It's being creative that is hard
I tried to "get good" by following negative thoughts about myself and my work, it led me to giving up.
I want to create without constantly thinking about others' opinion so much
Totally, thank you.
Sounds like ADHD to me….
So strange that I found this video today. I am a photographer, and I’ve been so depressed lately that it has been so hard to get out and explore, and be creative. Depression comes in waves, and I feel like I’ve been drowning lately.
It sure does come in waves. I'm a musician (just for pleasure, not professional) and it sure effects my playing. Sometimes I wake up in the morning feeling like a king, and go to bed feeling like a hobo in a ditch. My moods switch instantly sometimes. Some little thing can just turn me around. Blaze Foley has this song called If I Can Only Fly. For me, it captures how I often feel. Specifically the line "feel so good, then i feel so bad. Wonder what I ought to do." Your username seems to indicate you're a man of faith. Or at least conscious of God. He is the only way thru any hard times. Jesus Christ is the answer but it sure is hard when you don't even feel like you can go on another day. Hopefully the day (or night) finds you alright. You're not alone😁
(I linked that song I mentioned, it's not virus link, I promise 🤣)
ua-cam.com/video/BMT76_mYDV0/v-deo.html
man I'm in the exact same boat as you. one thing that's been helping me is going back and sorting or editing old pictures. It's been making me eager to get back out and shoot
Hang in there pal
I hear you. It really does come in waves, and that's the secret to surviving it. Always know that if you can tread water and just hold on, the wave will pass. Some days I go through the entire day, repeating over, and over to myself, this, too, shall pass, this, too, shall pass. Hang in there man. You're not alone.
Thanks for all the replies. I hope we all hang in!
This is the thing a lot of people need to understand about "tortured artists". Going through all the negative things in life is important because it widens your emotional understanding. But when you're going through it, the ugly truth is it's hard to really do anything. People often romanticize depression, and while any genuine experience, including depression can fuel art, it's really when we rise above and make peace with our suffering where we could truly create. A lot of art were bred from negative emotions, but most of them were made when the artist were reflecting upon it, not drowning in it, made in those moments where they can breathe in the surface for a while.
I mostly agree, but I wouldn't say that's why suffering is important. There is no greater reason why it's important, it just is. And if a person chooses to learn from it or make the best out of the situation that is a conscious decision they must make. But a lot of people, artists or not, suffer and do not find ways to heal and overcome their struggles. I mean, if we're to believe some of these famous artists and musicians killed themselves then that's a very good example of what I'm talking about. Honestly, if somebody can live their life without falling deep into that darkness, that's better than being able to create because of suffering. Regardless of the quality of the art.
I have major/clinical depression. Treatment resistant depression as it’s called. I took pills and therapy and I felt no difference. I don’t know if I actually applied most of the cbt techniques as I was lazy. I stopped alcohol as it was eternal bliss for me but it was harming my life(7 years sober today) I quit excessive caffeine (quit coffee), tobacco as well. I stretch everyday, I workout everyday thanks to some of the principles in David Goggins book. I’ve changed. I still feel tired after sleeping a good solid 8 hours even 10-11. That’s how I know my depression is still there but life’s way more manageable now.
I make music every day on my daw. Another lesson from Mark Manson in his book Subtle art etc.
Don’t wait for motivation to come. Simply do an action, and inspiration turns into motivation and the process repeats. So by simply getting on my computer and creating or learning something about music production or whatever it is you love to do you will get inspired even on shitty days.
I liked your comment, it conveys peace of mind
Discipline>motivation and confidence
Look into the GAPS diet, too.
Right on. It worked for me and it’s the same thing I tell others. You just gotta do it.
I'm going to risk it and introduce to you a strange idea I picked up from a philosopher Peter Wilberg. Unknown as a writer. In his essays he spoke that depression is a spiritual crisis by which the deeper knowing of self laying deep in the body is trying to call the person, to call him out of his prison which is his mind. Depression is an attempt by the body to lead the conscious awareness away from the head into the body specially to the belly where the center of gravity lies. The point is that depression has a message for you and until you choose that message and become it you will never be the person you want to be because being is a form of inner listening. By simple deep and aware belly breathing and observing the body you can develop this inner listening or knowledge. Hope it made some sense.
David is unironically giving some really good advices. One more reason why i absolutely admire this man and his work.
He is so right. When I think of “Sunset Boulevard” when William Holden, playing a down-on-his lick writer who needs survival money goes to his agent for help, only to get a response that great ideas are born from an empty stomach (I am paraphrasing), but it always gets my goat because poverty and illness stifle creativity, they do not foster it David is truly brilliant.
He’s not just yapping. He’s really insightful.
Makes me feel better about my lack of creation through my depression…
i'm glad the one line about "worrying that psychotherapy would effect his art" was omitted. while it's valid for him individually, i do think it risks running counterintuitively against the rest of his perspective seen here. for many, continued therapy is what gets them going in the right direction towards a more peaceful life and frame of mind. certainly the case for myself.
Completely agree. Therapy works wonders for some and puts them in the perfect place to feel like work is worth doing. Same thing for meds with some people.
Yes, I didn't want that line to be missread as "therapy is pointless", when he actually just found his own solution (transcendental meditation).
The point was more that he had a reason for going in the first place, and with a method that helped him overcome that struggle he went on with life. The fact that that method for him wasn't therapy is kind of not relevant.
@@KaipitainKai For sure. I'm wary of TM though because of how cult like some of it's providers/facilitators can be. People get weird when they think they found 'The answer' (Trade marked fully of course) But independent practice (meaning: don't pay for it) I'm all for if it helps. Same with any other mind observation/attention practice.
@@cryo115 there's definitely something to be said about many approaches to wellness, and while you could probably chalk up some of them to placebo or as you said cults of personality, i think the broader issue is perhaps overcommodifying them rather than the core goal of finding something that works for you. in any case, creativity and art are irrefutably therapeutic, and i'm always in favor of maximizing people's ability to pursue them.
@@Lanooski I would go so far as to say that TM "as a cult" probably works too and not just as a placebo. But it brings problems with it.
I suffer from 17 different (extremely painful) neurological and migraine conditions and I must agree! If you are chronically ill (mentally or physically) you cannot create, you cannot do anything really, there is no room for creativity in continues suffering.
Hope you are happy now that you found proof in this video and can feel good about not doing anything
You just created an amazing comment.
@@echoptic775 go tell this to someone who has locked in syndrome. I'm not trying to give credit to the idea of comforting in your suffering or not taking action, but certain things prevent you to do things you would want to do, and it's not just a matter of will, think about it.
@@dylanbelliard2379 do you have it? I doubt many do
@@bloatedsodium7301 🫂❤️
People rarely understand what real depression is. Even today with all the mainstream canned phrases about mental health. People really have no idea. And trust me, that makes it even harder.
How would you know
I watched this video a couple days ago. Today I was in a store, picked up a book at random, opened to a random page, and the first thing I saw was this Lynch quote about Van Gogh.
Jesus Christ i finally hear someone saying this.... "the more you suffer, the less you want to create" and that's sooo true in my experience. My Art was alwyas an expression of my joy, when depression kicks in i just dont get any joy out of creating.
I love this man so much it's unreal
Lynch hits it square on the head like my former shrink never did: depression or anguish may be present in the psychopathology of most artists but it's not a driving force, it's often an obstructing barrier.
I was bouncing between being depressed and being neurotic for the majority of my early years, childhood included. It was only until college that I had a spiritual journey of self realization and awareness, and that is exactly when I started doing art. Painting, writing, journaling. And all of it was about pain and suffering, but finally through unclouded eyes; without ego, without that automatic fast brake-less car that was my head driving me towards agony. My happiest moments came from writing about my deepest pains. I think suffering is definitely an artistic factor because of its intensity; because it forces us to consider the worth of life. But one can only create once they are somewhat outside of that headspace, once they can see everything relative to it. The shiniest emotions are only so bright when they are contrasted to the darkest moments. Once i understood the nature of my suffering I could present it in its full glory, and it made me happy.
I doubt the likelihood of me seeing this comment was high a few hours ago but I'm so glad I read this
i wish i could have a spiritual journey like that
Yeah suffering plays a huge part, I disagree with the statement that Van Gogh didn’t need to suffer.
Depression is like swimming in the deep ocean with lead boots on your feet. Simply staying above the water is a life-or-death struggle, it takes all your energy to do the bare minimum. Anything more would take superhuman effort to even get started. All the while, you see people leisurely swimming along, having fun, riding jet-skis and motorboats, if they're really lucky. How do they do it? Why don't they have lead boots on their feet, like I do?
Medication gave ma a life-vest but I can still feel the boots weighing me down. And as time goes by, the life-vest doesn't work so well, so I add another one. This can't be good for me but the alternative is drowning...
How do I take these boots off? I don't even remember how they got there in the first place... I'm tired, this isn't fun anymore.... I wish I would swim away and enjoy the water but I can't... I'm stuck here and I don't know how long it'll be before I'll be free again...
I was there. Even friendship can be depressing, see the depression the boat makes on the water, the friendships can’t feel their depression but it’s still there.
Now I can walk on water. Looking back, I think my mistake was forming expectations. I held on to my expectations even though each day I woke up, I knew the truth. I’d be elevated by the false expectation and pulled back down by truth. I guess this happened all day long. Back then I didn’t know expectations are pretty much useless. I guess I had hundreds or thousands of them I’d created in conflict with truth.
Now I use faith and develop a desire for things instead.
I have an interesting relationship with depression and art. I feel myself go in and out of depression, and it's during the swing down, I turn into a junkie, where the full of life stuff I make seems mundane. And so I dig deeper and deeper, trying to harvest whatever little feelings I have left; and when I exit my darkness I usually come to realize I made something beautiful that I didn't even realize was beautiful while creating it.
'Keep the Aspidistra Flying' by George Orwell is a fantastic book covering many of the sentiments expressed by David here.
I will look for that, thanks
Also made into a film starring Richard E. Grant.
He is awesome hahah. And yep, accurate. When I was a kid I liked to draw and create stuff, the older I got, the more I got caught up in stress, depression, survival etc - the less I wanted to create. But art can also be an escape from suffering - it's just harder to get going with it, if you are in pain.
when art is your way of living and the way you take food to home is not an escape for suffering, believe me.
This has been me for 20 years. So much depression that I simply couldn’t create. A constant self fulfilling prophecy that I’m no good. But I want to get out of this now.
I always thought I wasn’t a real artist. I can’t make anything most of the time, I can’t do anything. This makes me feel better.
Nice clips...he's devoted his life to spreading the word about Transcendental Meditation as it's worked for him (and there's been a number of studies done on its effectiveness for various groups of people). This video has inspired me to get back on the meditation track. Thanks! ❤☮🌎
He's absolutely right, as usual!
When you're someone that can see thru the BS in the world, it can be really easy to get depressed. But usually those people are the musicians, actors, comedians, directors, and other creatives that the world needs to thrive! =)
What really depresses you is knowing we (the ones who see through the bs) can't all be those things :/ But there are other things to enjoy, although it gets lonely.
Pretty much everyone sees through the bs in the world though, doubt anyone thinks we live in candyland.
A great guy, always admired him and his work since the 1980s. I've seen a few of his UA-cam videos and he truly is like a sweet old man now.
Depression calls us home to a deeper part of ourselves. Gets us to question why we do what we are doing. Would we rather die or continue living a life that was most likely not created by us, but by what we were told would bring us happiness and didn't. 'Do you like what you're doing? Would you do it some more? Or will you stop once and wonder what you're doing it for?' - Nick Drake.
Unfortunately my immediate family have mental illnesses. Im addressing it, and they are not. This means spending time with them has a negative effect on me. I am happier when they are not around. I know this might sound rude, but its true. My happiness is important, even if its controversial.
It's not controversial my friend, whoever think it is, just doesn't know what is like to live in that way
I am surrounded by a toxic family and I have been thinking about how to get out for days...
@@SuperMrBlaze Find a job and get out, if you're not a minor of course.
If what you mean is that you need a psycological help then go to a Psychoanalysts that can follow you and help you step by step.
Otherwise, if you have a friend that can hosts you, go for it.
Wish you the best
@@kaiko70 It is quite a complicated matter and I am no longer minor but thanks for your help!
@@SuperMrBlaze I absolutelly believe you when you say it's complicated, it always is, it wasn't my intention to make it look easy.
So, i really suggest you a Psychoanalysts, so you can explain everything to him/her and they can give you a better guidance than what i can possibly could.
Hope i've helped you
Love the end, "Don't worry guys. I'm fine, this is just sort of my vibe."
No one else has ever expressed this in the same way. It explains so much about how my life turned out.
Art can be a response to suffering.. I don't think it is a requirement but some of the best art comes as a way to cope with despair
So true, suffering gives me a lot of ideas and motivation but practically are pretty hard to apply them.
He couldn't have said it any better! I can listen to him all day.
God the twin peaks theme so perfectly timed in this video…always gives the chills
I'm curious as to why they used the twin peaks theme
RIP Angelo Badalamenti.
@@barbarakirk3064 truly, Power & Paradise
Hes very authenticity
Here David. You got this
Look at the energy of Scorsese at 80.the guy creates like a machine constantly
Lynch has an intuitive sense of the importance of good health to the creative processes. Sickness and stress can help spark ideas, but when they are overwhelming they hinder and can even eliminate the ability to do anything. I think he is right when he said "He [Van Gogh] did not need to be suffering, to create those great paintings." "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger", "good stress", hormesis, "the struggle for existence", "the state of nature is a state of perpetual war", the idea that suffering--struggling is good, that, its what makes people into who they are, that destruction is actually constructive, is not necessarily true, in fact these things often limit a person's potential if they do not have the energy to over come them...
Lynch appears youthful, cheery, and in good health, with a full head of hair. He intuitively chooses foods which keep up the metabolic rate, like coffee with tons of sugar, cheese, chocolate milk shakes, nicotine from cigs, etc. He is also seemingly very sensitive to disturbances in his metabolism, he's spoken of splitting headaches a number of times, nausea, diarrhea, depression, a lack of energy, he reminds me a lot of Ray Peat.
Some very true points here about the initially inspiring effect of melancholy and conflict and the subsequent polar opposite that follows the deeper you fall into it.
When I did well, I could create solidly.
When I did a little worse, I could create exceptionally.
But when I did truly bad, I couldn't create at all.
I don’t even remember how long I’ve felt depressed. Feels like my whole life
I hate to break this to you but it's only been 4 minutes and 26 seconds.
Guts pfp checks out. Stay strong fellow struggler
He is a national treasure
Wow, I can apply this to my life, specially what he said at 0:19, I'm so frustrated starting my 30's, that I can't find a steady job and I don't to go back to a call center.
It is true that typically the smarter you are the more you suffer from sadness.
Actually, sometimes creativity appears equally in a depressed state, as liberation from suffering. It's no good, according to me, conceiving art as escape; but it's possible to live like this.
In conclusion, I think it's possible to verify that real art can emerge from a depressed state and from a peaceful state as well.
Needed to hear this. Thank you.
I can't believe it took this video to prove to me that I have severe depression, wow. (The get out of bed part)
Hope you are doing good.
@@frantisekrebec3241 it's a neverending journey xd
@@bozdra Life is so hard, but there are moments that make up for the suffering.
You might like the channel Therapy in a Nutshell (free advice and tools) or Dr Gabor Mate (authenticity v acceptance, self compassion etc) if you haven't found them already. Tim Ferriss also has advice, but I sometimes find his suggestions are very much based on routines and discipline.
Wow you must be on the mend having found the energy to text.
David Lynch I try to live my life by your words and teachings. Thank you for your wise words
There's suffering that makes you more creative and there's suffering that is debilitating when you actually feel dead alive. Suffering is unavoidable, sooner or later you meet it face to face.
Most artist are great despite their despair.
However there is a certain allure of art, born from an artist's mind plagued by darkness/melancholy, that cannot be replicated otherwise.
So grateful for this. I've been suffering from Chronic Migraines for over twelve years now- and at first- devastating as it was I muscled through, found my way to creativity- but since adding more and more stress and hurt to my life- I now find it impossible.
I'm hoping to change my life- find some relief- fight my way back to creativity. But that needs to start with me giving myself permission to feel it all, find someway to lesson my suffering. Not feel ashamed that I'm being impacted by very real hurt.
❤
I had a friend who was (and still is) a very prolific writer, and he would always say that he can only write when he's depressed. I hated that so much. It's not a politically correct thing to say, but I wanted so badly to scream in his ear "buddy, if you think depression inspires you, you've never had a real depression"
self pity as a tool
Some people confuse melancholy with depression. Melancholy can be an art amplifier, depression is an art killer.
it's corect man, it's politically correct. wtf is wrong with y'all?
He probably meant he was sad. I think if you're experiencing life you've got a source of inspiration. Even if you're sad, you're experiencing the emotions. When you're depressed, you almost don't feel anything at all except the inertia, or the gravity pulling you down into darkness.
@@redryan20000 exactly. You feel empty inside.
Agree though I also have to mention how learning to play guitar would often lift my depression for a while.
What I learned after years of very disabling depression / and endless waiting - to get over it; the love of a dying family member can match depression.
laura palmer theme fits perfectly 👍 (agent cooper thumb)
"Poisons the artist" thats how i feel. I always get mad when people say "i created this while having a depression" or something. Thats rubbish ,when you are really depressed you feel like the body is paralyzed ,it really is hard to just do the most normal things like cooking food or get out of bed. So no ,i cant believe that anyone have created anything while feeling like that. Im glad someone else says it. I havnt touched my guitar in 3 years and before that it was the only thing i did.
I get mad when people say I'm 'not really depressed'
I agree with what he's saying to an extent, but when I became severely depressed - I felt an urge to create and express my emotions in some way. Like I wanted to purge my thoughts and feelings into a way that involved creativity. Now, I'm the opposite. I enjoy creating when I'm not stressed.
Yup, I am creative when I am at least a little bit ok..... Anxiety renders me useless. On a site note, always such emotion when hearing Laura's theme 😢
Maybe I have anxiety issues and not depression. I don't know but my head is messed up too a lot of the time. I just keep going for pointless walks in my neighbourhood all the time to get through the day/night.
Ty, for this amazing video.
Bravo.
that twin peaks music is a masterpiece
What a personality, one my favorite human beings. Of all the people talking about creativity and pain, I think David is the more clever
The creativity is the the artist climbing out of the hole
As a person that suffers, I can guarantee it doesn’t make you more creative 😅😅
It's not depression that makes you creative, but artists and creative people are more vulnerable to depression.
So refreshing and honest.
I literally needed to see this so bad I feel a weight lifted off my chest....it's okay to be happy even if you're an artist man I'm so afraid to be happy it's ridiculous
Art doesn't have to be creative though. It can be pretty mindless.
And that can be enough to lift you out of your slump until creativity finds you.
Thank you mr. Lynch
Using my creativity to brighten someone's day helps mitigate the blues. I enjoy grabbing photos off my friend's social media and editing them in ways that make them smile, which invariably lifts my mood.
Also, volunteering has helped me tremendously with managing my depression. When I work at the food pantry, I'm reminded that there are people right in my neighborhood who wish they had it as good as I do and seeing their circumstances takes all the wind out of depression's sails.
That's me at 0:45, in my 20s and convinced that some day I'd be an artist. Fast forward and Im nearly 50 and conflict and stress have eaten my creativity, my relationships, my potential and my life. Of Incould go back and give that me from all those years ago one piece of advice, it would be to go back on Prozac and find a nice quiet place to be alone in.
Thanks for sharing that
Good wisdom, very relatable
Makes me think about how as soon as I go on a vacation or I’m in a new situation and I feel good my creativity turns on and I cease to feel depression or lost in my head
Truly
Perhaps art can scratch that itch that depression causes.
Even if temporarily.
I love David Linch not everything of his I like. But Its like he has to create. He has to like we breath. And he doesn't let anything interupt his specific vision.
i have built autograss buggies from scratch, i have forged historically accurate swords and knives, built all sorts of things, when im depressed which has gotten worse, it took me 2 months to build a dog house something i would normally do in a day, i look at some of the stuff i have done in the past and just can't imagine doing it, i can't even play a video game now, can't go out on my bike, can't even watch a tv show or a movie, i get up try and pretend im happy try do what i need to do, life is bad i hate it,
what a king.
I’ve been very depressed for the better part of a year, in this twilight zone of being able to get up from bed physically but never mentally. I’ve kept drawing, cause I remember that it used to bring me joy, but no good ideas have come so I’ve been only trying to refine my skills so that I’ll be better when the sun does come up and real ideas come back. I have vauge flashes of intresting things I could draw but they get stamped out the second they arrive. Writing, my other hobby that I think I’m much better at, has been truly lost to me though. That requires vision, and I can’t accomplish that at the moment
Thanks David Lynch for explaining why I can't make art anymore
Cast out this wicked dream that has seized my heart
Really insightful.
this is so relatable
I get what he's saying and I agree to a point. If you're down in the dumps and got no energy, you're not going to be creative or productive. But I also think people connect most strongly with art that resonates with their pain. When you're going through something is when art will mean the most to you, so art that's made with the knowledge of deep suffering is going to be the most beautiful to a lot of people.
Great video!
I’ve always been a creative person, always had ideas, seen scenes, heard dialogue in my head, but when my career fell apart, I didn’t have ideas that excited me for almost two years. It was a horrible, absolutely horrible. I’m so glad I found a way out of that. I couldn’t even consider making anything. All I could think about was the anger and hate I felt toward the people responsible. Cuz when you start fantasizing about hurting yourself and others, and you start making plans for how to do it, and you decide on one? Oh man, that’s some bad business. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.
0:14 I love how much he loved that question :D
Damn, eye opening
I've been feeling extremely depressed for about 1 - 1,5 years, and I am unable to do anything. I've quit my job, can't bring myself to enjoy any of my hobbies. No energy to even play video games. He describes it really well.
It's not suffering itself that drives one to create, but defiant monkey spite towards that suffering.
The man is a national treasure
Creativity and depression are symptoms caused by the same thing. A mind that that's constantly reflecting. Suffering isn't part of your creativity unless you're expressing your suffering.