Are creative people ALWAYS moody?

[Emma]

All the creative people I know, suffer to some degree, from angst..
In fact I can't think of a single creative person who doesn't, from time to time, plunge into some sort of gloom.

I just wondered... does creativity cause moodiness... ?

[garww]

They are locked and loaded

[bholst]

WTF are you trying to ask? Huh? I can't be bothered with your depressing question right now. I'm busy creating art!!!

[Emma]

Bastardos!
Just can't get a sensible answer from any of you!!



hmmm... [pauses to think.... time passes...]

[bholst]

It could possibly be related to the fact that many/most artists are also 'starving' artists. You're on to something though

[Rockerdude]

...............................

[Emma]

Ahh... now that reminds me of some exercise thing I did at a wrm-up for some conference thingummy - where you had to stand at a certain point in a room, depending on how you felt at the time...

only trouble is, you were supposed to stand still!

[garww]

Certainly, the writers block can cause gloom and it's a sinister trap. It may happen that the moment one cracks a smile, the inspiration flows.

A box of chocolate may work. I also think that it is getting on to a thought that gets one going. The last two wars certainly gave Dali and Man Ray material. Man Ray was depressed, for sure. All Quiet on the Westerrn Front is not a thing of cheer.

Frankly, I feel getting depressed is a good thing. That is different than suffering depression because there is no Oprah show, or, whatever. A bout with pain or getting a new layer of skin on that broken nose is part of maturing. In that view, I think it's good to get depressed over some injustice. Much better than being indifferent.

Moody people are a bit different. One might think a person is moody when they are not. The creative process can require turning everything else off. I think that can be true of anyone who really gets into their work. According to the Hollywood movies, I might think anyone who was having sex was moody.

[rook2c4]

Creative people often feel frustrated. Living in a world where creativity and originality are mostly discouraged and frowned upon in daily life, or where artistic creativity is only considered of value if it is highly marketable - frustrating indeed.
Too much unresolved, sustained frustration can lead to gloom, for sure.

[garww]

Creative people often feel frustrated. Living in a world where creativity and originality are mostly discouraged and frowned upon in daily life, or where artistic creativity is only considered of value if it is highly marketable - frustrating indeed.
Too much unresolved, sustained frustration can lead to gloom, for sure.

The creative part doesn't even need to be manifest in a "art form". It's a way of life.

Man Ray just wanted to be accepted and he didn't find that 'til he moved to Paris.

The critic will try to explain and interpret, while creative people just say cool !

[brandondrury]

I don't agree with this thread's premise. I maintained the same mood for over 10 minutes a few years ago.

[Emma]

So does moodiness make you creative, or creativity make you moody??

[Emma]

Eeek... I had never heard of Man Ray before... ulp... can see I'm not from the US, and I DO go to art galleries...
awesome artist!

[brandondrury]

So does moodiness make you creative, or creativity make you moody??

That's a good question. I'm mostly moody when I haven't had time to create. I've had my Axe FX nearly 3 weeks and played with it one time for one hour. I've just been too damn busy. I bought my Moog Voyager RME in June. I get to play with it here and there, but I'm not even close to mastering it. I miss the days when I was 19 and could just play guitar 5 hours when I wasn't working. Now I'm always working.

I know people who are moody and just play video games. This doesn't necessarily mean they aren't creative. It just means they aren't productive.

Brandon

[Stan_Halen]

Emma, you may be on to something with the "which came first, the chicken or the egg" theory. A twist though ... based on a debate over whether creative geniuses tend to be "mad" (crazy) to begin with, or if pushing the envelope leads them to the edge of insanity. While the creative genius may be the rarity, there can be generalizations made about creativity. To break with conventional thinking you have to get "outside the box", and take risks emotionally in order to realize a vision. Sometimes this invokes an irrational drive and passion that cannot be adequately explained, and the creative person may struggle with feelings of frustration, elation, manic-depression (aka BiPolar), obsession, perfectionism, and ... temperament. The urge to go beyond the normal, average, acceptable, conventional, conformist expectations of everyday life. Having to deal with all that, who wouldn't be "moody"?

[brandondrury]

The evolutionary psychologists refer to it as "in-group" or "out-group" behavior. The people that scrape up revolutions are, as a rule, laughed at beforehand. We are supposedly wired to dislike this out-group behavior. Running with the herd has increased survivability for some time. This makes the in-group people generally opposed of anyone rocking the boat. The out-group dude is going to react negatively to that.

I've got to think that when you feel disillusioned from your peers due to out-of-the-box thinking, it's gotta wear on you. It sure seems like it's wearing on me, but I have 45,000 things wearing on me and it's hard to isolate.

Brandon

[bozmillar]

My mood is very monotonic. It drove my wife nuts at first. I rarely get mad and I rarely show excitement. Then again, I'm not sure I'm all that creative. I have a job and hobby that demand creativity, but for the most part, I think I just fake it. Maybe that's why I can't write lyrics to songs. You can only write so many songs that say "everything's still going fine over here, nothing of significance to take note of."

[Big Al Rocks]

My mood is very monotonic. It drove my wife nuts at first. I rarely get mad and I rarely show excitement. Then again, I'm not sure I'm all that creative. I have a job and hobby that demand creativity, but for the most part, I think I just fake it. Maybe that's why I can't write lyrics to songs. You can only write so many songs that say "everything's still going fine over here, nothing of significance to take note of."

Damn dude, we are like twins, except you're better looking.

[Emma]

My mood is very monotonic..

I love the idea of a monotonic mood... it sounds very peaceful, living as I do in a semi-bipolar household full of lively unpredictable bods who dive in and out of my life as varying sized storms... But... I do have to challenge you on your

I'm not sure I'm all that creative

- having heard some of your music that DOES transport the listener to other realms. I don't believe it would be possible to 'create' music like that without innate creativity.

[kakeux]

Well, I have too admit I am...but don't know if it has anything to do with creativity...but it become worst if I can't try to create...even worse when I fail at creating. So I'm mostly moody

[Beat Poet]

I think songwriters who produce poignant and reflective music are moody yeah, as their music is a way for them to express their dissatisfaction with life, but it doesn't function as a release, so they can't relieve themselves of their pain. It's only those that are really tormented though that manage to write more than an album of that kind of material, alot of people with an axe to grind end up saying all they've got to say in about two songs (which are usually the best two songs your average unsigned band has).

Funnily enough, the two most prolific songwriters I ever played with were happy-go-lucky, constantly churned out the songs and were ecstatic each time they came up with one. Thinking through the rest of the songwriters I've played with, I don't recall any of them being moody, maybe because songwriting wasn't the main focus in their lives. Drummers are usually the moody ones!

[garww]

Hay ! I'm in the mood for steak and lobster.

[Emma]

Hay ! I'm in the mood for steak and lobster.

with pickled eels feet?

[garww]

I'm not changing my mood for pickled eels feet, no : )

[Danny Danzi]

The creative people I know don't seem to ever be moody. I'm not very creative myself, but I'm never moody. I do however, look forward to the change of seasons as they allow me to creative differently. I won't live in Cali or Florida because it's like the same day every day. Though those places are beautiful, I find them pretty boring due to no major seasonal change. All the people that I know that are creative, are pretty successful too...so they rarely wake up in a bad mood.

The one thing I can say for myself though when I am creative....I'm overly passionate about things. When I'm like that...it's no longer a feeling...I'm living it. I think super creative people are like this too from what I can tell. Most of them are really passionate souls that take themselves out of the normal element of life, and step into another. Sometimes when they step, it's not so easy to come back. This can make them sensitive, edgy, overly happy, sad, a bit mean...it depends on the situation really. I have seen it in people but not often.