Grief and Artistic Expression

Pat~ · Oct 28, 2008

Hopefully this thread won't be too much of a downer

...but I traipsed into the Poetry forum just now after a bit of absence, and in catching up on some of the posts, have been wondering something.

I've noticed (usually only in hindsight) that the times in my life when I suddenly go artistically 'dry' seem to be linked to grief periods...not that I'm particularly cognizant that I'm grieving, though. (Does that make sense?) I haven't written poetry for about a year now (though topics have flitted through my mind from time to time), and at first I thought it was due to being busy, but, well, I'm not so sure anymore. It's been a year of 'goodbyes' and other sorts of downers (though no one has actually died)...and it reminds me of when I had my one and only miscarriage and a year later 'discovered' I'd stopped playing the piano somewhere along the line. (I used to play it daily.)

So...all this to say, do you notice grief having this sort of effect on your poetry writing (or other artsy stuff)? I'd always thought deep emotion contributed to artistic endeavor, so I'm wondering why it would just pull the plug sometimes in my life.

Priene · Oct 28, 2008

Artistic expression can certainly come out of grief, but the actual period of grieving often isn't the time when the best art is created. Matters are too close and too personal, and the result can be unbalanced. The times of reflection and recovery that (hopefully) follow, though, may be the point when the artist can best shape the upset into an artistic form.

JMHO on this one, though.

sunna · Oct 28, 2008

I think how we cope with loss is a pretty individual matter, but I do know what you mean. Though I tend to deal with grief by writing through it (though not necessarily with much skill), there's a sort of shell-shocked period that can last from a few days to a few months where I couldn't write a creatively-oriented sentence if you put a gun to my head. Business correspondence is fine, but anything outside that and I shut right down. Personally, I think it's because I am so oriented to self-expression through writing, and there are times when I just need to let things settle for a bit before I go poking around in there.

Dichroic · Oct 28, 2008

Tennyson, Auden and Millay each wrote one of their most brilliant works as an expression of grieving. However, I don't know *when* those were written - in the immediate throes or as Priene said, in the reflective period following.

One of my own poems that I think is one of my strongest, if least accessible, was written not in grief but in anticipation of it - at a time when my father and uncle were both having life-threatening health issues.

Perks · Oct 28, 2008

Grief smothers my artistic notions and anything I try to force from it is usually worthless. Now a garden variety blue mood can be a gem mine, but real grief? Nope. I just take an aspirin, get a heating pad, and curl up like I'm physically ill until my head's on more reasonably straight.

KTC · Nov 7, 2008

I find that grief lights a flame under me and forces me to be more creative. It's like fall, for me. Everything is at the point of dying and I feel life more strongly. It's in the dying and the death that life-and its power-hits me the most and causes me to reach out to my artistic and creative leanings. I sometimes feel guilty to be brought to the point of celebrating life in the midst of grieving, but that's what I do.

Starby · Nov 7, 2008

Interesting thread. I've often pondered over this as I'm one of the people who can't create when I'm very low. Some people can use periods of grief and/or depression to produce wonderful stuff but it doesn't work for me - I just dry up. The urge is sometimes there, but it just doesn't happen. It's when i start to pick up emotionally that I use the experience of the pain/depression and make it into something. I suppose that's due to needing to detach from the emotions slightly in order to process and write about them.

KTC · Nov 7, 2008

I think we are all just made to function differently. When I am in a fantastic mood, writing--and other creative work--is probably one of the last outlets I would gravitate toward.

Pat~ · Nov 7, 2008

Thanks for these thoughts. Seems there's no universal response, but it's interesting (and even validating) seeing everyone's difference responses here.

Yowren Sites · Nov 7, 2008

Anne Rice immediately comes to mind, as she delved into alcohol and exorcized her demons (in the most literal sense) after the death of her daughter, producing her "Interview with a Vampire" as a result.

(Doesn't knowing that make the girl-child vampire all the more heart-wrenching?)

Grief is personal though, so I don't think anyone can tell you if writing as grief therapy is for you.

Personally, I found it to be a means of distraction from grief, and I didn't realize it until loss finally hammered my mind to silence. I eventually realized words were not enough...for me.

It might work for you though.

*peace*

dclary · Nov 7, 2008

I found poetry a very powerful release during my period of grief. I'd argue that some of the poems I wrote in that season were some of my best.

In fact, now that I'm more than a year and a half removed from the tragedy, I find my ability to write poetry diminished. The words don't flow as easily, and when they come, they don't mesh as well as they used to. I wonder if I drained a great reservoir of creativity within me, in my desperate attempts to stay sane. It may take me a lifetime to refill that pool.

KTC · Nov 7, 2008

dclary said:
I found poetry a very powerful release during my period of grief. I'd argue that some of the poems I wrote in that season were some of my best.

In fact, now that I'm more than a year and a half removed from the tragedy, I find my ability to write poetry diminished. The words don't flow as easily, and when they come, they don't mesh as well as they used to. I wonder if I drained a great reservoir of creativity within me, in my desperate attempts to stay sane. It may take me a lifetime to refill that pool.

Grief opens a vortex in me...it sounds like if effects you the same way. Creativity founts, though, cannot be drained, Dave. I believe they are like energy...always the same total. It's just the connectivity to it that changes. For me, grief and depression brings that connection to a higher ground. Grief sometimes opens that great eye in us that connects us to eternity while at the same time cutting us off from it.

dclary · Nov 7, 2008

KTC said:
Grief opens a vortex in me...it sounds like if effects you the same way. Creativity founts, though, cannot be drained, Dave. I believe they are like energy...always the same total. It's just the connectivity to it that changes. For me, grief and depression brings that connection to a higher ground. Grief sometimes opens that great eye in us that connects us to eternity while at the same time cutting us off from it.

Maybe I've just played too much Knights of the Old Republic, then. I'll lay off the video games.

Feiss · Nov 12, 2008

Personally I can only write about grief or any emotion really, until I've processed it, and it's more of a lingering scent in my mind. I certainly couldn't have written about the first time I fell in love until years after and the grief turned into sadness. I probably won't be able to write about things that make me happy now, until they've gone away or something.

That's pretty depressing huh?

William Haskins · Nov 12, 2008

although it's admittedly a too-broad generalization, it can be argued that there are two types of poems: laments and devotions.

devotions spring from adoration, from wonder - be it a love poem or an ode to nature (or certainly any appreciation of some metaphysical belief); laments spring from loss... of innocence, of people, of self...

the two can be conflated at times, but there can be no doubt that grief, alongside ecstasy, stands as one of the two great pillars of poetic inspiration.

dclary · Nov 13, 2008

William Haskins said:
although it's admittedly a too-broad generalization, it can be argued that there are two types of poems: laments and devotions.

devotions spring from adoration, from wonder - be it a love poem or an ode to nature (or certainly any appreciation of some metaphysical belief); laments spring from loss... of innocence, of people, of self...

the two can be conflated at times, but there can be no doubt that grief, alongside ecstasy, stands as one of the two great pillars of poetic inspiration.

"Every artist is a cannibal, every poet is a thief, both kill their inspiration, then sing about the grief" -- Bono, The Fly

Teena · Nov 18, 2008

Strong personal emotions can affect us in different ways with each experience. For me, prolific writing, though not always my best, and "journalizing" (self-analyzing, ranting, philosophizing in my journal) gives those emotions an outlet. My first love was reading. Since age 3, I have inhaled books, except for one traumatic period. I didn't really notice until later, but not only did I stop reading for nearly a year, I gave away about half of my personal library - over 2000 books. When I 'woke up' I regretted it, but....

Each of us use these experiences in the way best suited to our personal needs, and sometimes even we don't control that outlet. Strong emotion or traumatic personal experience often takes its own path and we are simply the channel.

The best offer I have is don't over-analyze it. It simply adds to the frustration. Use one of the writer's block techniques to get past it.

Grief and Artistic Expression

Pat~

Luftmensch Emeritus, A.D.D.

Priene

Out to lunch

sunna

Dichroic

that's di-CROW-ick

Perks

delicate #!&@*#! flower

KTC

Stand in the Place Where You Live

Starby

KTC

Stand in the Place Where You Live

Pat~

Luftmensch Emeritus, A.D.D.

Yowren Sites

dclary

Unabashed Mercenary

KTC

Stand in the Place Where You Live

dclary

Unabashed Mercenary

Feiss

Sleeps during the day

William Haskins

poet

dclary

Unabashed Mercenary

Teena

Bennie's Mom