Art as an Addiction
Sep. 9th, 2014 11:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kokopelleCan art be an addiction? Is being an artist an addictive pursuit? Perhaps! This question is best answered after the definition of addiction is presented:
: a strong and harmful need to regularly have something (such as a drug) or do something (such as gamble)
: an unusually great interest in something or a need to do or have something
Brian May was the lead guitarist of Queen. In the rock documentary “Queen – Days of our Lives” he said the following at the end of the film:
“Once you pass your initiation into being a rock star, it never leaves you, you cannot really stop having that feeling that makes you want to play”.
I can relate to this in my particular forms of artistry. Artistry, be it singing, writing, playing, painting, dancing, or any other form of creating, can become addictive. You want to do it again, are drawn to further creating. My dance friends can relate to this. Sometimes I think I am too tired to dance more, but this vanishes when I am drawn to the floor. I've walked away from writing in the past, but now I am doing it again. I've been taking pictures since 2007, and have many to my name now. It does not leave you. I am now doing swing dancing most weeks. I'm doing a bit of poetry. I am going to move onto video pursuits.
Why do these things? I cannot speak for others. Some people probably do art just to make a buck. While some artists I know make a living pursing their work, I don't believe that the big bucks are the goal. I suspect there is more. I can share that art makes me feel alive. My heart is lifted when I listen to beautiful music. I find satisfaction when I create art myself, be it in pictures or movement. I feel connected to others as I share aspects of myself with a larger world. This is enough.
: a strong and harmful need to regularly have something (such as a drug) or do something (such as gamble)
: an unusually great interest in something or a need to do or have something
Brian May was the lead guitarist of Queen. In the rock documentary “Queen – Days of our Lives” he said the following at the end of the film:
“Once you pass your initiation into being a rock star, it never leaves you, you cannot really stop having that feeling that makes you want to play”.
I can relate to this in my particular forms of artistry. Artistry, be it singing, writing, playing, painting, dancing, or any other form of creating, can become addictive. You want to do it again, are drawn to further creating. My dance friends can relate to this. Sometimes I think I am too tired to dance more, but this vanishes when I am drawn to the floor. I've walked away from writing in the past, but now I am doing it again. I've been taking pictures since 2007, and have many to my name now. It does not leave you. I am now doing swing dancing most weeks. I'm doing a bit of poetry. I am going to move onto video pursuits.
Why do these things? I cannot speak for others. Some people probably do art just to make a buck. While some artists I know make a living pursing their work, I don't believe that the big bucks are the goal. I suspect there is more. I can share that art makes me feel alive. My heart is lifted when I listen to beautiful music. I find satisfaction when I create art myself, be it in pictures or movement. I feel connected to others as I share aspects of myself with a larger world. This is enough.
