Depression/Mental Health (2 Viewers)

[Purple Stickpin]

Well, good for Aristotle. I respectfully disagree.

Years ago, my late mother insisted that "You'd argue with God if he came down to Earth."

"No," I replied, "I wouldn't."

Regardless, I stick by my worthless opinion.

 

[Marvel]

Hmm I'm currently reading "War All The Time" and i think there are some hints regarding depression and suicidal thoughts. Most recent one I read:

(the old gang)

I walked about naked and barefoot
stepping onto shards of glass
sometimes feeling it
sometimes not.
at times I tried to pick some of it
out
but I didn't want to get it all
because I'd read somewhere that the glass could work its way
through the bloodstream to the
heart and kill
you, yes...

 

[Lolita Twist]

there was a time when it was believed, by Plato, that the tragedies could corrupt the youth because of mimicry.

aristotle disagreed with him by claiming that through catharsis, people were able to release emotions they would otherwise act upon and that reading these tragedies induced catharsis iin the reader.

later it was mentioned that catharsis might also be experienced by the writer.

Y'know. I hated Aristotle, and Plato was ok... but Socrates was my man. Socrates was the bomb. What the hell did Socs have to say about this matter?

Stickpin, to each their own :)

 

[antelope1202]

There is a letter, I believe in "Screams..." and in the beginning of the letter Buk states, not using any kind of metaphor -tiger or hell, but states directly that he is in a "depressive state" and gets into them frequently. Also, on this note, I believe if you were going to make a case for Buk's depression/manic tendencies, you would point to his letters above all else...I'll try to find that quote and get back.

 

[CRBSMILE]

Also, on this note, I believe if you were going to make a case for Buk's depression/manic tendencies, you would point to his letters above all else...I'll try to find that quote and get back.

I agree that his letters show his depresive side the most clearly. His letters are wonderful. Along with the poetry the greater picture is created, the fuller circle. Bukowski's insomnia and alcholism are classic traits or 'symptoms' that run trough artists/shamans/peoples of all times and places.
Symptoms sometimes-
are what you do with them. CRB:)

 

[Purple Stickpin]

Bukowski's insomnia and alcholism are classic traits or 'symptoms' that run trough artists/shamans/peoples of all times and places.
Symptoms sometimes-
are what you do with them. CRB:)

And sometimes, just to make it clear (and I have no one in mind from here when I say this, just to be more sparkling clear - it's an abstract thought), drunks or stoners think that that makes them great. A horrible sword to fall upon, even when they are too hammered or baked to realize that the sword is the truth and the buzz means only that, and the sword didn't hurt going in; just coming out.

I think I speak for the entire platoon when I say that we'd all prefer to postpone this conversation until we are all better rested. :D

 

[CRBSMILE]

Sorry PS, I should not of posted, more so I should not have made a spelling mistake, (expect a few more). You're right, I should be better rested, and most assuredly more sober. I did not intend to bolster addicts or addiction or madness.
I enjoy Bukowski's letters more so than his other forms, because for me they reveal the reality of him. And they touch me.
Insanity/insomnia/depression/addiction are strong elements in the lives of many great artists & people). I was trying to convey that symptoms can mean many different things to the many. I have had, & do have different "symptoms" and troubeling issues in my own life, just as most people do. I do not take medicine,(maybe I should). I do self-medicate,(maybe I shouldn't). I am not a great artist & I do not claim to be one. But I am a person, a studious person who tries, and fails constantly. I am also Someone that dosn't know when to shut-the-fuck-up. A person with a sticky keyboard that can't affiord a new one. Not to mention, that I'm a terrible speller. Goodnight.

In The Abstract; Soluting the Platoon, CRB:)

P.S. I'll pull the sword out in 5 hours, right before I leave for work.

 

[Purple Stickpin]

Hey CRB, just so you know, my words were not directed at you; rather at the concept that some people use things like alcoholism to justify what they perceive to be their greatness. But a drunk is just a drunk; whether they are a great writer or a lousy one is immaterial to that reality.

 

[vodka]

Y'know. I hated Aristotle, and Plato was ok... but Socrates was my man. Socrates was the bomb. What the hell did Socs have to say about this matter?

well first of all, anyone who calls Socrates 'socks' wins my heart.

secondly, I don't know. do you?

and I missed some of the argument I think, but regarding Purple Stickpin's last post, I think he's right. If you're a writer you're a writer regardless of whether or not you're doing drugs or drinking. People can change as people when they become sober, and maybe they have a harder time expressing themselves, but if they're writers, eventually they find a way. Sometimes people get sober and turn into self righteous assholes and then they're writing/art sucks, but I think that's just because they've lost themselves to being something they think they have to be rather than just being themselves.

/coffee fueled sermon.

 

[Gerard K H Love]

well first of all, anyone who calls Socrates 'socks' wins my heart.

/coffee fueled sermon.

Please, don't give up your heart for that. Maybe you should quit the coffee.

 

[Lolita Twist]

well first of all, anyone who calls Socrates 'socks' wins my heart.

I've always called him Socs :).

I don't know - I was asking you. Perhaps one of us (preferably the least lazy one... that being you, because... well. I'm me.) should look that up somewhere?

A writer is a writer is a writer. I think the caliber of the work changes. I don't like my sober writing half as much as I loved my under-an-influence stuff.

 

[Purple Stickpin]

A writer is a writer is a writer. I think the caliber of the work changes. I don't like my sober writing half as much as I loved my under-an-influence stuff.

A question and a comment: You used past tense (loved) when referring to your "under-an-influence stuff." Do you still today prefer your under-an-influence stuff to your current sober writing?

Comment: But your current sober state has a psychological influence on your perception of your own writing, from both then and now. It's possible that when you read your "under-an-influence stuff" you become nostalgic for how you felt then, and naturally you feel that the old stuff is better because you are put in a place you enjoyed. A more representative opinion would be that of people other than yourself. Or I could be full of it, of course.

 

[Lolita Twist]

Yes, still today I prefer my drugged stuff to my sober stuff.

Re: Comment: Of course it has an influence of perception. I don't like it. I liked myself better when I was under the influence (drink, narcs, what have you). Nostalgia has a huge amount to do with it. I miss the life. Other people think the stuff is fine, but I'm not completely content with it.