David Lynch has many different concepts of what it takes to make art, but suffering is not one of them. “I think this is part of the myth,” he said in an interview. “Van Gogh did suffer. He suffered a lot. But I don’t think he suffered while painting.” It wasn’t necessary.” In Lynch’s view, “The more you suffer, the less you want to create. It is said that if you are really depressed, you can’t even get out of bed, let alone create.” It’s a theme we’ve covered over and over again, and the video above collects some of those stories over the decades. It may be surprising, but the author of this work is blue velvet, twin peaksand Mulholland Driverecommends meditation as a solution.
But for those familiar with Lynch’s worldview, that should come as no surprise. Here at Open Culture, we’ve previously written about Lynch’s explanation of how meditation boosts creativity, his drawings of how meditation works, how to get ideas through meditation, and meditating with Paul McCartney, Moby, and more. We featured conversations between.
In the video below, he explains how his favorite type of Transcendental Meditation can banish negativity, tension, stress, anxiety, sadness, anger, hatred, and fear, as well as depression. I’m explaining. These are grand promises, but both were once widely thought to be actually deeply troubled, so they’re of interest to non-contemplative Lynch fans interested in the heart behind his work. It’s not that there aren’t any.
“Do you think you’re a genius or really sick?” CBC correspondent Valerie Pringle asked him. blue velvet-The interview at the time is included in the edit at the top of the post. “Well, Valerie,” he replies, “I don’t know.” At the time, he did not speak publicly about his meditation practice, but in the late ’90s he began speaking more freely about personal issues. in one charlie rose The interview, a clip of which appears on video, where he even talks about the time he went to therapy. We can tell the beginning of this story, but not the end. Lynch asked her new therapist, “Candidly and directly: ‘Is this process that we’re going through potentially affecting our creativity?'” And he said, “David, I have to be honest with you, it’s possible” — and Lynch shook the man’s hand and walked right out the door.
Related content:
David Lynch explains how meditation can boost our creativity (plus free resources to help you get started)
An hour of David Lynch listening to the rain, smoking, and reflecting on art.
David Lynch uses a Sharpie and a large piece of paper to visualize how Transcendental Meditation works
Are we all getting more depressed?: New study analyzes 14 million books written over 160 years finds steady increase in language about depression
David Lynch talks about the magic of film and meditation in new abstract short film
Charles Bukowski explains how to overcome depression: Spend 3-4 days in bed and the juices will come again (NSFW)
Based in Seoul, Colin Mbershall Write and broadcastIt’s about cities, languages and cultures.His projects include the Substack newsletter books about cities, Book Stateless City: Walking through Los Angeles in the 21st Century and video series city in movies. Follow him on Twitter @ColinbeHave to Or on Facebook.
