Someone once told me if I feel pain it’s a good thing; it means I’m still alive. “The Formula For Portraying Pain in Art; Building Chairs or Forging Tools to Ease Suffering Can Transform It Into a Creative Force” by Sarah Boxer echos that someone.
“The only way people can really describe pain is to objectify it,” because we all know for sure how it’s caused but can’t put words to how it feels without referring to what caused the pain.
This makes sense, then, when we consider, “When people forge tools or build things, they are often trying to alleviate discomfort. But first they must define the discomfort.” Pain drives creativity. Pain forces us to think outside the box and to figure out a way to at the very least lighten it..
This is just a physical expression of something that was inherent in me from a very young age. Who would’ve thought that aesthetic Tumblr quotes like “The loneliest people are the kindest, the saddest people smile the brightest…” are actually rooted reality? We use our painful experiences to create art.
These “beautiful pity parties” (as Michael so eloquently articulated) really do force us to realize we are not alone. When I write a song, sitting next to my dusty, worn keyboard, wringing my hands, fiddling with my bitten pencil, with my tears blurring the world around me, I could only hope the objectification of my pain could alleviate someone else’s.
I could only hope I’m still alive.
