Quotes and thoughts for the day
- Thread starter sumi
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digitS'
Garden Master
Carol Dee
Garden Master
- Thread starter
- #744
sumi
Rest in Peace 1980-2020
I was scrolling through FB when this pic caught my eye and I started reading… I soon had goosebumps and felt by the end like crying. What an incredible piece. Please read it to the end. It may make you cry.
Krys Smith
September 23 at 4:39 PM
When they talk about the tortured genius,
somebody always brings up van gogh—
how he swallowed yellow paint because
he wanted to put the sunshine inside himself.
how his psychosis was probably
the result of lead poisoning.
they call him a miracle, but what i see is a man
who was so sad, he found a beautiful way
to kill himself.
they say, “it’s awful isn’t it?” they say,
“it’s always the talented ones who go before their time.”
and me, a nine year old kid
who’s always been told they were so talented, wonders when i am going to die.
we study them in school, the tortured artists.
look at all the poets who killed themselves
what would their work have been without their depression?
if it's beautiful, isn’t it sad?
as if depression is a parlor trick—
pull it out at parties, impress all your friends.
as if depression isn’t seeing how long
you can go between showers
before somebody notices or
pizza rolls for dinner three nights in a row
and then nothing the night after,
because going to the store is an impossibility
that you have not yet gathered the courage to conquer.
it is the least beautiful thing i’ve ever seen
and we call it the mark of an artist
to stand in the center of an ocean
and see nothing but desert.
to be seated at a feast, but still
swallowing sand.
depression is the yellow paint, the yellow paint,
the yellow paint, the yellow paint, the
yellow paint, the yellow paint, the yellow
paint, the yellow paint, the yellow paint—
art is a coping mechanism.
van gogh is good because when he had nothing,
he had paint. when he was empty, he had paint.
when the world was awful, he had paint.
when he hated himself, he didn’t hate the paint.
he whitewashed over his own masterpieces,
because it was never about being famous,
it was about doing the one thing
that made sense when everything else didn’t.
and they say, “without his illness, we
never would have gotten all—this.”
because they value his art more than his sanity
because god forbid you lead a happy life
and leave nothing to remember you by.
— VINCENT, by Ashe Vernon
— Painting by Ian Anastasia
Krys Smith
September 23 at 4:39 PM
When they talk about the tortured genius,
somebody always brings up van gogh—
how he swallowed yellow paint because
he wanted to put the sunshine inside himself.
how his psychosis was probably
the result of lead poisoning.
they call him a miracle, but what i see is a man
who was so sad, he found a beautiful way
to kill himself.
they say, “it’s awful isn’t it?” they say,
“it’s always the talented ones who go before their time.”
and me, a nine year old kid
who’s always been told they were so talented, wonders when i am going to die.
we study them in school, the tortured artists.
look at all the poets who killed themselves
what would their work have been without their depression?
if it's beautiful, isn’t it sad?
as if depression is a parlor trick—
pull it out at parties, impress all your friends.
as if depression isn’t seeing how long
you can go between showers
before somebody notices or
pizza rolls for dinner three nights in a row
and then nothing the night after,
because going to the store is an impossibility
that you have not yet gathered the courage to conquer.
it is the least beautiful thing i’ve ever seen
and we call it the mark of an artist
to stand in the center of an ocean
and see nothing but desert.
to be seated at a feast, but still
swallowing sand.
depression is the yellow paint, the yellow paint,
the yellow paint, the yellow paint, the
yellow paint, the yellow paint, the yellow
paint, the yellow paint, the yellow paint—
art is a coping mechanism.
van gogh is good because when he had nothing,
he had paint. when he was empty, he had paint.
when the world was awful, he had paint.
when he hated himself, he didn’t hate the paint.
he whitewashed over his own masterpieces,
because it was never about being famous,
it was about doing the one thing
that made sense when everything else didn’t.
and they say, “without his illness, we
never would have gotten all—this.”
because they value his art more than his sanity
because god forbid you lead a happy life
and leave nothing to remember you by.
— VINCENT, by Ashe Vernon
— Painting by Ian Anastasia
canesisters
Garden Master
How very sad.
digitS'
Garden Master
"there are poets who sing you asleep and poets who ready you for war and i want to be both." ~ Ashe Vernon
so lucky
Garden Master
So you have to wonder about the relationship between genius and depression. Does the capacity for genius (artistic or otherwise) stem from the propensity for depression?
Or does the depression come from the unfathomable workings of genius?
Or?
Was Stephen Hawking depressed? Was Einstein? How about Bach?
Or does the depression come from the unfathomable workings of genius?
Or?
Was Stephen Hawking depressed? Was Einstein? How about Bach?
digitS'
Garden Master
Eric Clapton and I have something in common with these guys.
Imagine being so in tune with sound as to be able to compose symphonies ... then losing your hearing. Oh no! That was Beethoven.
Einstein ... Einstein ... well, we both were alive at the same time and American citizens. Clapton and Van Gogh - you can figure it out .
Pessimism is only a part of depression but anyone can be pessimistic. Now there's something I have in common with these guys!!!
Anyway, Eric Clapton: "The thing about pessimism is that in most cases it's nothing more than a front behind which a body can hide its most sweetful yet painful hopes. Please forgive mine."
Maybe I'm projecting but many have done that with the "blues" and Eric Clapton. Be optimistic.
Stephen
Imagine being so in tune with sound as to be able to compose symphonies ... then losing your hearing. Oh no! That was Beethoven.Einstein ... Einstein ... well, we both were alive at the same time and American citizens
. Clapton and Van Gogh - you can figure it out .Pessimism is only a part of depression but anyone can be pessimistic. Now there's something I have in common with these guys!!!
Anyway, Eric Clapton: "The thing about pessimism is that in most cases it's nothing more than a front behind which a body can hide its most sweetful yet painful hopes. Please forgive mine."
Maybe I'm projecting but many have done that with the "blues" and Eric Clapton
. Be optimistic.Stephen
digitS'
Garden Master
Steve
