Michael Jackson, Vincent VanGogh, Amy Winehouse -- these are artists, but it extends to all walks: there's something about greatness that goes with brokenness. So much so that I don't believe someone is great unless they are broken (Taylor Swift: not great).
What do you think?
MJ was pushed hard from an early age by his dad. Winehouse just had a drug problem (wasn't it?).
There are trade offs. I think some of my biggest mistakes were in hindsight lessons to move in the right direction.
Bruh @denlillaapan and I agree T-Swizzle is the GOAT
dude said WHAT about Queen Taylor?!
What a schmuck
all her songs are the same.
no.
What, you think all wine is the same? All chocolate the same? all coffee the same?
Takes some refined senses -- which you clearly lack -- to appreciate the beauty.
đź’Żđź’Ż
Taylor has been “broken” by every breakup to write her music!
U can’t come up with “Starbucks lovers” otherwise!
No, but most of us have to be willing to be broken to be great, and the will comes easier if you're already broken.
There are a surprising number of ways to be broken too. One way is to think money, beyond the Jones' level, changes more than life's trim. You can also force brokenness on yourself because brokenness is relative. Many people find what brokenness feels like in competitive sports.
I also suspect brokenness is more apparent in those with greatness because of the contrast.
Related ...
I think character develops proportional to however many states of brokenness and greatness you've achieved which practically means exposing yourself to lots of risk and novelty.
I tend to encourage people to take more risk (and pursue brokenness) for this reason because it's where the low hanging character fruits are.
(Though, when measured in outcomes and depending on which novelty you find me pursuing, I'm a bad poster for life philosophies. And it's not like I'm going to bloom into a saint someday regardless. I just like creating these oceans of awareness in me and I suspect others will too.)
sooo.... since money is broken... it is now (becoming?) great??
Well ... yes
I think people romanticize suffering because the broken geniuses are memorable. We forget the countless broken people who never became great, and the plenty of great people who were actually stable.
There are many in the streets begging.
This is a good point. I've seen enough ugly broken pitifulness that I hope I never make the mistake of romanticizing being broken. At the same time, I hope that the heights of achieved by the real geniuses despite their often ruinous natures provides a sort of hail mary hopefulness to all of us who feel shattered.
Yeah, I think that’s the healthier way to look at it. Not that brokenness itself is noble, but that being broken doesn’t automatically disqualify someone from creating something meaningful or beautiful.
Crazy I was just reading about Chester Bennington and how he was molested as a child.
All the trauma and pain went into his music.
Maybe it does
Being broke isn't the reason these artists are great; it's the consequence.
Michael was exploited by his father from an early age and later by record labels, and in the end, it was the drugs. Vincent was just crazy, and during his lifetime nobody cared about his paintings; plenty of other genius painters existed before and after him who weren't broken. Amy, well… drugs.
They say the great artists have demons which help fuel their works. There is something in that vulnerability that creates more/better than normal people. It is like an exposure that touches the soul.
Suffering can forge something real. But it's not a prerequisite.
Romanticizing pain is dangerous.