I once had a discussion with a friend of mine, who has always been a writer. That friend said something interesting to me, that I think reveals something about the internal wiring of the modern-day writer. The friend told me that they were having trouble writing these days because they were on a new anxiety medicine, and believed that their creative juices were, as a result, lessened. The friend told me that they felt uninspired to write, and when they tried to write, it had a lack of substance or satisfaction.
I have met many artistic types since I began trying to be a writer, and I've had many discussions with these artistic types. At some point in these conversations, it has become mentioned, or just abundant, that the artistic types always seem to have an edge to them, or some kind of experience that distinguished them from the more science-driven people I had met. The edge was usually some kind of internal problem, be it anxiety, depression, familial issues, etc. Experience plays a key role in creative thought, as one's experiences drive their art forms and can be traced through the pieces of art that the artist produces. An easy example of such would be Ernest Hemingway writing about an American ambulance driver working with the Italian army in World War I, seeing as Ernest Hemingway was an American ambulance driver working with the Italian army in Word War I. Makes sense, right?
My inquiry here can go in one of two ways:
1. Why do one's experiences drive people to art?
and
2. Why does it appear that the majority of modern artists have distinguishable "issues" that are almost integral to their art?
There is the usual answer of one wanting to express themselves and release their experiences and burdens, but what of those who may be anxious, depressed, etc. but work in a field of science? How do they express themselves and release their burdens? Alcohol?
Perhaps these science-driven people express their issues through their work, though regarding a depressed engineer's bridge is much less telling than a depressed writer's poem. Seeing as I am not of the science-type, I cannot answer this question of their expression.
Maybe they don't need it, and because of a lack of "issue" or experience, they have never felt the need to be guided by art? Again, it's speculation, and a desire for understanding how these different kinds of people work through their lives, their flaws, their sorrows, vices, relationships, etc.
And lastly, why is it that, when the friend of mine begins to treat their anxiety with a new medicine, they no longer feel like they need to express themselves? Surely there is a psychological connection to this question.
But, alas, I am an English and Philosophy Double Major, and can merely speculate.
