“The only way people can really describe pain is to objectify it.” I’m not going to lie, the first time I heard this quote, it seemed so true. Who the hell just says I’m in pain and expect everyone else to understand what they’re talking about? This statement almost certainly follows the question “Are you okay?” Obviously not if I just said I’m in pain! This goes to show you how little humans know about pain, so in order to gain a better understanding of this, they bring objects in to the matter. This leads to statements like “My head is pounding like a bell.” If that were really the case, it’s not that bad. You’ll be with Jesus soon. In all seriousness, this is not really an accurate representation of how we feel, but it is better than the simple “I’m in pain.” This does encourage me about the process of creation as we can have so many different quotes, so many different meanings, so many emotions, so many tears (I may need therapy), just from objectifying pain. However, I realize there are only so many objects that we can use to objectify pain, meaning that with all the new songs that come out everyday, we will soon get bored of that same stupid analogy of that pounding or splitting headache. Once again, if your headache was splitting you…forget it. Not to say these analogies are bad, they just get stale after a while. How do we fix this problem. Never fear, Maroon 5 is here! Here’s the thing: since pain is an immaterial thing, why don’t we compare it to other immaterial things rather than tangible objects? I just so happened to be listening to “Whiskey” by none other than Maroon 5, and Adam Levine crooned into my ears “I admit that I would have sold my soul for a little more time.” How’s that for pain? I could feel the loneliness in the lyric, the emotion in his voice, that this person meant everything to him and he would have everything just to be with them at least one more time. As we know from philosophy, the soul is an immaterial thing, as well as time, yet in this lyric, they appear to be traded for each other. It’s really beautiful to show how immaterial things can mean so much to someone emotionally and and the physical toll it can take on someone, which we more generally know as pain. Of course, why even objectify pain when we have voices, capable of changing volumes and pitches to express greater pain. Sometimes simply screaming with futility, “I’m not fine, I’m in pain, it’s harder everyday” (“Better that We Break” by Maroon 5) with a depressing tone to accompany it is all we need to understand you.
“She suggests (Scarry) every impulse to make things—whether a painting, a chair, a poem, a vaccine or a building—is an attempt to ease the burden of sentience by shifting some of it onto the object.” Once again, at first glance, this seems like the perfect answer. Human beings see a problem, they try to fix it. Well…maybe not. There are always those times when yes, human beings, some of the laziest beings on Earth, love to drown in that burden and pile it on. Music is the perfect example of this. You think every musician…or band, makes a song to ease their burden. Most of the time this statement does reign true, but sometimes they love to drown in their sorrows so much that they make a song to feel even more depressed then before. Don’t lie to me! We’ve all had that moment where we just want to feel depressed, to continue to have those emotions and blast the most depressing music possible. Sometimes to ease the burden and let go ,but other times to feel even more and increase that burden, as if to punish ourselves for our wrongdoings. I’m not trying to say this is the norm, it is rare. However, it does happen, it is logically possible, and therefore, not every impulse is to ease our burden. This really enlightened me about the creation process after making this realization, as it helped me understand that not everything created has to be for a benefit, but to enhance a consequence. How is this a good thing? Without our lowest of lows, we wouldn’t have our highest of highs.
“We’ve all had that moment where we just want to feel depressed, to continue to have those emotions and blast the most depressing music possible.”
Perhaps we do that to feel justified in our weakness– it really IS that bad and I’m going to prove it.