Have you ever been so sad that it felt like a physical pain, like you couldn’t breathe? Has someone betrayed you so thoroughly, so unexpectedly that you walked around in a daze, thinking, “How did I not see this coming?” Perhaps you have experienced a place and time so perfect, so right that you never wanted to leave, that made you think, “If I died right here, right now, it would be OK.” When you learn to master your perspective, you realize that - no matter how it feels in the moment - it’s all good.

That’s Life

Life, according to the Buddhist concept of duḥkha (or dukka), is suffering and pain. And so it is. But life is also immeasurable joy, excitement, contentment and love (punctuated, possibly, by long periods of ennui).

Personally, I consider any period of time in which the positive (emotions that feel good) outweighs the negative (emotions that feel unpleasant) to be a win.

But the crux of the situation is this: as long as you are conscious, you are going to experience all of it. Sometimes all at once.

And so the question becomes, “How can you keep pain and suffering from derailing your productivity, especially as an artist?”

Grist

Every moment of your life can be used as inspiration, as grist for your creative mill, when viewed with the correct mindset.

As I write this, I am sitting in a coffee shop at the US/Mexico border, literally in the shadow of the wall that separates the two countries. When I look out the window, I see a great stream of people crossing to the north, into the Untied States, and an equally enormous number of people headed south into Mexico.

But when I look closer, when I really pay attention, I am overwhelmed by an endless river of inspiration.

There is a girl seated next to me, alone and trying to be absorbed in her phone. She is clearly anxious, nervous. Which way is she going? Is she waiting for someone? As soon as I try to put myself in her situation, to imagine the details of her circumstance from her point of view, I have enough material for a novel, a symphony.

A young man in Ray-Bans strides confidently past my window, well-dressed and smiling, headed south. What dreams and aspirations led him to this place in this moment? Is his projection of confidence a front, or has he sealed a deal, cemented a relationship that brings him happiness? Could this brief visual snapshot mark the beginning of a stellar career as a businessman? The day he proposes to his true love? Maybe he is poised to take ruthless, Machiavellian advantage of someone else’s tragic misfortune.

Perception

Inspiration isn’t limited to external stimuli. You can use your internal feeling states and thoughts as fuel for creativity as well.

You don’t even have to be awake. I have, on several occasions, wakened from a dream with a melody or chord progression, an idea for an article or chapter in mind. If I can capture these fleeting motifs before they are erased by the sensory onslaught of waking life, I find they are without exception fruitful ground to be tilled for larger works.

So it is with a beautiful sunset, the sad news from a phone call you never wanted to hear, the thread of your thoughts on a long solo cross-country drive. An instantaneous shift of intent can magically change random thoughts and events into purposeful creation.

The magic here lies in perception. It turns out that what you perceive is not nearly as important as how you perceive it. And more to the matter of practical use, you can choose how you view your own perceptions.

When you intentionally decide to perceive the moments of your life as information that can inform your purpose, you have the power to transform the mundane into the sublime.

Transformation

Imagine that you revisit a location, a relationship, a career, only to find that what was in the past must remain in the past. Automatically, you feel a sense of longing, of regret that you can’t recapture what is now lost. You can make a conscious decision to transform your perception to frame your thoughts and emotions in terms of a tale to be told.

Perhaps you make rapid progress toward a goal that once seemed unreachable. You are filled with hope and an energy you haven’t felt for a long time. You can choose to transform your elation into art that will allow others to share your outlook, to be a vicarious part of your win.

It all comes down to your decision to tell your story to the world. At every turn, you have the power to perceive the moments of your life as parts of a story. And then transform that story into art.

At this point, it makes no difference whether you view your story as inherently “good” or “bad.” All stories deserve to be told, and each will find a wiling audience.

And you will have found a way to use life’s turns - positive and negative - to inform your art.

It’s All Good

Art is the process of relaying one human experience to another human. Positive or negative, there are stories to be told for anyone who can foster the mindset to see them. Someone, somewhere, wants - needs - to know your story, no matter how you experienced it.

It’s all good.



I am a creator (musician, writer, live-streamer and podcaster), entrepreneur, educator and counselor.



To learn more about how to use these concepts or to inquire about working with me, you can contact me through my website, the comments section on my Substack or Medium accounts or The Authentic Life Blog page. If you have found value in this article, follow my Instagram account for daily insights, or my X account for occasional tweets. To support this community, you can Buy Me A Coffee or donate through my Patreon account.

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- JWW