sometimes being miserable works
Where would we be without a little glumness? I read an interesting article over the weekend. It had to do with happiness and melancholia. Apparently a backlash has started against the notion that everyone should be happy all the time and if you aren’t you need therapy. Several academics are now arguing for the benefits of sadness or “melancholia” as an important contributor to creativity. They point to Vincent van Gogh whose art was infused with his personal experience of mental illness. Emily Dickinson and Sylvia Plath are good examples of the effect of depression on poetic accomplishment. I’m sure I wouldn’t think of this trio as the poster children for the benefits of malcontentedness. After all, I think two of the three killed themselves, didn’t they? Maybe they did need a little bit of mental health care after all…?
It does bear consideration that there is something strangely motivating about having a bit of angst. A “bee in the bonnet” or something “stuck in your craw” can drive a person to demand or create change. A smidgen of discontent, irritation or annoyance and we get fired up to write letters to the editor, complain to the boss or organize a neighborhood watch program. Who writes a diary about all the good things that happen to them? Not me, that’s for sure.
So go out an insult someone? No, that might be dangerous to your health and that of the person you chose. But I guess I can embrace a little suffering in the interest of getting something done.