decadence and creative genius

8/3/2019 Decadence and Creative Genius

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Genius, Vice & the Art of LivingAn essay by J. Erik LaPort

Art n. skill, cunning, esp. applied to design, representation or imaginative creation; (pl.)branches of learning traditionally supposed to prepare for life or advanced studies; fine s.music, painting, etc.

Artistn. highly gifted practitioner of any craft; one who practices art

Geniusn. (pl. iuses, -ii), tutelary (protective) spirit; exalted intellectual power; personhaving this

Depression, escapism, drugs, alcohol, religion, philosophy, art, poetry, literature, adventure and

insanity its what we call life. You see it staring out at you through the eyes of the genius, thewise, those with an elevated understanding of life; those who have experienced it. How can wereconcile these? Can an individual embody each of these? Indeed theyve already beenreconciled for us in the tragedy of the creative genius. How many great minds in even our recenthistory, musicians, artists, and entertainers our true modern artists have lived so inextricablywoven into a tapestry of tragedythe kind of tragedy that increases their fame and their fanslove for them. We relate so well to what they must have been experiencing if not in measure, inspirit.

We can easily draw the conclusion that vice and genius are often inseparable. We feel itintuitively. And these eccentricities ofvice are so completely accepted, if not expected, as

companion to art, creative genius and wisdom. The alternative is a dreary stale view of reality.We all seek escape in some way. In desperation we are looking for a new way to view the world.We are looking for lost illusion. We wish we were never told the trick behind the magic. Wewant to see it as magic again and when we realize that no matter how hard we try to believe inSanta Clause again we simply cant. We know too much so we look for new illusions, new eyesin which to see through. God I need a drink (to change this dreary view and allow me to let my mind andinhibitions run free like I feel so deeply they should). The artist loans us his eyes to see through so thatwe may recapture the reality around us anew.

You and I forgive ourselves our little sneaks of vice. We need it. It adds character to our livesthe way a pinch of salt, so bad for the health in excess, can bring out the flavor of an otherwise

bland dish. But if we were to listen to the prohibitionist we might be convinced that ourdabbling in vice is evil, with no other possible conclusion than complete destruction of the soul.Bullshit is usually the first word popping into my mindat this thought. Is there anyone whodoesnt enjoy their own private little evils as part of their innate genius? We might actually buyinto the evil crap but deep deep inside we know that those little vices damn near make up thesum total for any true character we might exude. Lets face it; monks are boring at a party.


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The problem lies in our system of judgment. To a head-hunter, the warrior who destroys hisenemy and takes his head is a step closer to heaven and revered as a hero. If I did that in myneighborhood I would come home with quite a different welcome. So we develop our values,judgment of the goodness or badness of our thoughts, actions and deeds, based on our societysvalue system. But where did that system come from. Surely it came from someones personal

value system or collectively from the majority, right? If these people or this society formed thevalues we live by they must be superior to us ordinary beings, are they not? But the problem iswe lose sight of the fact that life, existence and the development of character and wisdom cannothappen without polarities.

Why is it that the people with a tremendous amount of character, appeal or charisma happen tobe the worldliest, well-traveled, awash in life experiences and living wisdom? Or have made itthrough some of the most grueling and terrible ordeals humanity can face? Something draws usto this person, this special kind of genius and we can never really put our finger on why. Oftenwere drawnto someone we dont really like (or dont want to but cant help ourselves).

The simple answer is energy. Some call it chemistry. The boy who teases the girl, gets her torespond and banters and jokes back and forth seems to get the girl every time. The nice sweetguy left standing there never understanding why the girl is always drawn to the bad boy. But allof us are drawn to the naughty once in a while. And why is it that we feel so damned alive whenwere breaking the rules?

Theres a line that we walk called normalcy. It is the line of whats acceptable and normal. Itsmore of a corridor or pathway actually with walls on each side that were not supposed to gobeyond, but for some reason nature made those walls just short enough for us to jump over. Ifyou veer off the line to one side you are on the side of the saint, the holy, the all-pure and good. Ifyou wander off to the other side you tread the region of the damned. Here is where all thingsunholy lie. It is the domain of the drunkard, the whore, the criminal. Throughout our lives we

tend to swerve, if not completely off the main path, at least towards one side or another. Somedwell right on the edge never fully crossing over either wall. Accepted as being normal but theproximity to the out-of-bounds side making them stand out in the crowd a bit but stillaccepted as normal, in a way, by all their peers; the craziest guy in the room may not be so crazyin another room syndrome.

If we looked at the (secret) trail left by the amazing personalities that weve come to admire itmight be quite surprising as to how often and how far the tracks weave towards extremes orover these walls of the sinner and saint. It is exactly this experiencing the wholeness of the paththat builds character. No religion I know of forbids these extremes. In fact it is quite acceptedthat you will experience them at some point, yet there is always the notion of using these

extremes to teach the value of the middle. Without these extremes there could be no religion.Why would the sinner need forgiveness if there were no sin? Prayer and a redeemer would beunnecessary. There could be no enlightenment or even learning from ones mistakes. The truthis that our personal extremes develop our true character. For example, you dont have to beEXTREMELY brave for an experience to be a life-changing one. You simply have to exude abravery that feels extreme to you. This then goes toward building a brave element in yourcharacter, and so on with other experiences.


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People of character and genius are rarely what we would consider the worlds first classcitizens. Think of your favorite entertainer, writer, etc. and ask yourself if you delved deep intotheir real-life biography would you find the stereotype of a proper upstanding citizen. Theanswer is most definitely not. But society tends to adopt the eccentrics because they add asplash of color to an otherwise boring tapestry. Often the eccentric artists and geniuses are

paraded around in high society as status symbols themselves with all their faults actuallyapplauded, admired and excused.

Do you need examples? Van Gough, Verlaine, Hemmingway, Picasso, Wilde, Voltaire. Toodisconnected from the present for you? Too artsy-fartsy? fair enough. Lets try Hendrix,Morrison, Joplin, Marley, Belushi, etc. This might just be a bit too rock and roll for some. Whatabout leaders whove seen both sides like Malcolm X or John F. Kennedy, Ho Chi Minh or FidelCastro? Clinton, among others, was a complete womanizer and the public loved him for it. Thelist goes on and on. Simply at the mention of these names their lifestyle comes straight to minda fraction of a second before their genius does. It doesnt take a genius to see the pattern ofgenius. Most people who we associate character with have some pretty off-the-beaten-pathstories to tell, stories that helped build the charisma that draws us, and most likely would not beconsidered clean upstanding (read boring here) role models of society. That is, unless they wereadopted as such in order to spice up the dullness of the immediate society in which they reside.

So is there a way to classify creative genius? Is it simply character or charisma? The fact is thatthe man of character doesnt have character so much as he has characters. Take Hemmingwayfor an example. The man could rightly be called a genius, an adventurer, a whore a drunkard, afighter, a romantic, an artist, a depressed suicide case or a number of other labels. Certainly eachone applies. Lets get a bit introspective for a moment. Imagine that each thing you do or eachcharacter you play in the drama of life calls for you to wear a different mask. Do you really wearonly one? I doubt it. I dont.

You might wear the mask of a respectable businessperson during the day, the loving parent, theplayful rebel shooting pool or attending a concert, the drug user smoking a spliff, the snobby artcritic with martini in hand, or the tender lover or complete whore in the bedroom. You wearmany masks; perhaps all of these and more. So do I. So does everyone to some degree. Itsimportant to remember firstly that those masks arent really you. Theyre just parts of you. Howcurious it is that when someone says that they really want to get to know you, when in actualityjust want to know one of the masks you wear that bears a similarity to one of their favorites.And did you ever get the feeling that if they actually saw a few of your other masks it just mightshock the pants off of them. Quite often we become very careful which mask we show, and towhom.

But our real heroes, our artists and entertainers, especially the ones we truly admire, show ustheir whole collection and we love them for it while at the same time are terrified that wemight be judged harshly for displaying ours. The depth of character derived from playing somany roles is magnetic. We draw others and are drawn to others as a result of this. Yet in ourextremes we tend to develop a sense of the sacred and the profane. And between the walls ofthe sacred and profane we find our living space. We find ourselves and stumble to the shockingrealization that we absolutely needed both extremes of our personality to become the totality ofwho we are.


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Realizing this we can only come to the conclusion that it has all been an adjustment in ourperspective(s). Weve seen life from the point of view of the sacred, the beautiful, the pure andgood and learned from it. And weve delved in the profane, the dark side, our vices andnaughtypleasures and have come to realize that our forays into both worlds have become very

interesting chapters of our own lives. We learn to see a profound truth from many differentperspectives. The extremes are the highlights and drama of our own story. Good or Bad? Whoknows! How do you value a paragraph in a storyor one brush-stroke in a painting? Or a singlesentence or phrase for that matter? Because these are what our experiences are and must beviewed in relation to the totality of ourselves.

We eventually have to take our masks off and look naked into the mirror to see who we reallyare, and review our mask collection to see who weve become. Maybe throw a few out that dontfit us anymore. Its the attachment to a mask that causes our sufferings. Throughout recordedhuman history vice and genius are inseparable. The tales of which have been taught us, viamythology, parables and religious teachings, lessons to the masses of what is right or wrong.

When you combine sex, vice and creativity the result is usually quite a recipe for art. Drinking,at the very least, has often been associated with genius, with drug use quite often following as aclose second. But the real glue binding it all together is sex. Sex, the one true great adventureavailable to all, is the shadow of genius. Even a strong abstinence is an inclusion of a sexualelement, in a strange way, into the life of genius. At the very least we could say that withingenius resides an abnormal life of sex and vice. Rejection of vice and sex is also a form ofclinging and inclusion. The level of indulgence in drinking, drugs and sex or the extremerejection of such is so closely related to genius that one can hardly conceive of them as separateentities.

So why is it that these people of vision have one foot in the respectable and another on the

darker side of life? When lifeless prohibitionists have curtailed anything that we might findpleasurable, fun, experimental and character building it only builds the resolve to find ourescape from their dreary version of utopia. Prohibition has never lasted in the long run. We willalter our consciousness somehow, thats an historic fact. We will look for other ways toexperience the world. Is it because we dont like the picture we see? Real life isnt good enough?I dont believe this is the case. Why limit yourself to one view? Some would rather not. Yet weare limited by our societys narrow point of view to the degree that we begin to limit who we areor will become. We start believing the hype. We buy into brainwashing.

But theres always another side. We might also make the mistake of believing our illusions. Weglimpse the more complete reality and our vice has developed wisdom of both the workings of

the world and ourselves. And we havent destroyed ourselves in the process, much to theprohibitionists dismay. Yet we feel a sense of powerlessness. A deep impotence to affect achange and this understanding gnaws at us from hidden places. Whats the point, we cry withour hands in the air. Did the hippie movement free our minds and cultures? The truth is that, inmany societies, we have more prohibitions now than weve ever had. The world seems to beadopting a strange sort of fundamentalism.


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But the creative genius is unaffected by these limitations or illusions. Indulgence broadens hisperspective and character. A strange sort of worldly wisdom has developed as a result ofexperiencing what life has to offer in all its strange forms, from seeing the world from manydifferent and oftentimes conflicting views. This character has developed an eye capable ofexperiencing and understanding the different roles in the world. He understands intuitively the

need for the extremes. He sees the beauty in the diversity of the world and the complex picturehe shows us as a result is a masterpiece that only he can uniquely perceive.

But the unaffected artist, having attained this understanding now finds himself in a strangeposition. He finds himself alone and lonely. Everyone else is still playing their rolesexperimenting with different masks mistaking the drama for reality. Yet our artist genius hasrealized that it is all just a show. There may be others who can understand and sympathize withhim but they are alone in their realization as well. A smile, nod or look of understanding is asclose as our artist geniuses will ever get to true companionship. The wise perceive truth alone.

The normal world either applauds our artists genius or scorns it. How many great artists, poetsand writers, composers creative geniuses died broke with little or no fame compared to thenear reverence they receive after their demise? The number is astounding. Yet as unappreciatedas they might be, they somehow feel that they must add something to the world that ostracizesthem. They must give something. They must be human and add to or at least reflect thathumanity through their work.

What is it that our genius sees through this artistic eye? What realization has he arrived at thatmakes him different or sees the world differently from us normal slobs? There must besomething wrong with someone who spends as much time indulging in vice as they do withtheir creative pursuits. We tend to hold genius right up next to divinity and feel both justifiedand appalled at ourselves for doing so. But it is the artist who truly understands that thepurpose of life is to live. Really live. His mission is to feel the world around him and preach it

back to us to show us what weve missed.

And this implies dealing with two things on a daily basis, necessity and luxury. They both existfor the purpose of comfort and convenience. Our existence is wrapped in these two to such adegree that the expense of human energy in the pursuit of necessity, luxury or both very nearstotality. The problem that arises is that our needs and our comforts are, in the modern day, tooeasily reconciled. There is a surplus of energy. A bit of our spirit, just waiting, with nothing todo, whispers to an unsuspecting part of our being. We sense that this excess is a luxury andmust be used to elevate our being to a higher sense of existence. The method we choose isgenerally religion, love or art. And the thread on which these three jewels are strewn? Wine!We find a deep intoxication with all three and wine in the hand of each.

Ponder the number of religions that involve ceremonial wine, sacred wine or other intoxicantsused by mediums or shamans. Ancient history is full of accounts of spiritual leaders and healersusing any number of intoxicants. Indeed religion is how we know of many natural mind alteringsubstances.

Can you imagine a romantic evening without wine? Even people who dont drink wine associatea glass of wine, a rose and dinner for two with romance or even love. Love intoxicates usas


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does art. When I speak of art Im speaking of a man-made creation that moves us, whether it ismusic, poetry, literature, architecture, gardening, Hollywood movies or anything else thattouches you. It goes to our heads and hearts and intoxicates us, and in this experience we canonly associate it with wine. And how many artists works that we admire were at leastencouraged by a mind developed through an indulgence in wineor some other view altering

substance.

The artists eye, this broadened view of the world cannot reach its maturity in youth. The youthare moved by the newness of the world and idealistic fancies that have yet to be provenimpossible. The illusions of the potentialities of the imagination toy with the young. Its thebalance of what the young want to say, be and do with what can be said and done in such aconfining world, which tears at the spirit of the young for many years. It absolutely breaks someand at least humbles others. It is only when the illusions vanish and we realize the world as agame, begin to clearly understand the rules do we find our power to affect change and find ourplace in the world. The artist is the model. He knows the rules like we do yet he seems to playhis own game by his own rules. At the same time he chooses to stay among men and suffer theirillusions and struggles with them.

Yet the artist is in pursuit of the truth of beauty and existence and, therefore, must not get tooclose to enlightenment or heaven. Our genius will feel himself pulled towards a higher truth.But what is it that separates the artist from the religious leader? The artist firmly anchorshimself to the humanity he serves. He does not desire to rise above the humanity bydisassociation but to serve it by being part of it. And often it is the crudest of humanity thatkeeps him down to earth. That lets him see the reality, the silliness and sadness of humanity.And where does he go to stay grounded? History tells us that he goes to the places wheresociety has thrown away the rules. The pub, the whorehouse, the cabaret or go-go bar, the nightclubs of the city, wars, the countryside or the odd exotic third world county. He indulges inalcohol, drugs and sex. The artist, although he may be appreciated by, and rub shoulders with

the worlds elite, prefers to dwell with the common man.

Money has destroyed more people than any other natural or man-made disaster. And behindmany human illnesses lies peoples eating habits. Yet we dont blame money or food and forbidpeople of enjoying either. Do we make the sea illegal because of the destruction to boats andcoastlines resulting from rough seas? Perhaps forests should be off limits because of the threat offorest firesor we maybe we should prohibit anyone from living in an area prone to earthquakes.Sorry California but we have to evacuate, someone might get hurt. Of course its true that vicehas its dangers. There might be those who destroy their lives due to lack of control of theirvices. This is something we have come to accept in the case of alcohol and nicotine but have notyet worked out a tolerance for sex or drugs.

Fortunately for us, the all wise and powerful, most honest and honorable, incorruptible saint-like protectors of humanity our governments have found a solution to protect all of us grownadult intelligent human beings from ourselves. The answer?...Prohibition. Yes boys and girls,we are told what we can and cant do to our own bodies in our own homes by other peoplemuch wiser and more caring for our welfare than we. Lets just prohibit anything that mightcause harm to someone (yet they feel nothing for harming the world around us in pursuit of material goals).No we wont vote on it. Theres no need to find out what people really want. That wont get us


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votes because even if they wanted to do away with silly prohibitions they wouldnt dare let theirneighbors know for fear of being ostracized by their community. It appears to the artist andgenius quite clearly the depth and breadth of a sort of puritanical hypocrisy spreading like avirus from one influential countrys policy to the copy-cat governments of others who areincapable or too lazy to develop their own policy for fear of not conforming to world opinion.

But this world opinion is on paper only when it becomes clear that huge percentages ofpopulations throughout history have attempted to do the opposite of policy. Americanprohibition was the best thing to ever happen to the alcohol industry in 1920s American history.Tell us we cant do something and its the first thing we want to do.

The Prohibitionist must always be a person of no moral character, for he cannot evenconceive of the possibility of a man capable of resisting temptationAlestair (god love him)Crowley. OK, perhaps we might not resist temptation but give me the opportunity to control myown indulgences. True many people have a tough time with self control. But should we makefood illegal because some cannot control their eating habits? Cigarettes and alcohol have provenhorrific side effects yet they remain legal where other less damaging substances are completely

off limits. The artist quite often takes his indulgences to extremes with dramatic results and theworld benefits from it.

The prohibitionist would like you to believe that he knows better than you what is good for you.He will attempt to use morality and ethics as his lever to move the rest of society to his sterileworld view. To him there are very few worthwhile pursuits. Lets start with religion. For himany religion that allows for humanitys humanity is a false religion. His version isfundamentalist and cold. There is no allowance for sympathy or human imperfection. It is areligion of judgment, categorization and narrow-mindedness, of absolute and total conformityaimed at acceptance. Is this truly a higher pursuit of the human spirit? Id prefer the artistsview of humanity and existence in all its forms and manifestations.

And love you ask? The prohibitionist has no time for such silly nonsense. The kind of love youmust be talking about can only lead to the profane! You might delight in your love and all itspleasures, which to him, can only be seen as sin. To the prohibitionist, the only purpose for arelationship is procreation of the human race, but who would want to be born in his world? Idrather not. If there is one theme celebrated in all art, music, literature, poetry, cinema, it is thetheme of loveand rightly so. Love, like our other vices, even in its more painful forms, makes ustruly feel alive and as if there is a meaning to our existence. The act of loving is complete initself. Not necessarily so with the feeling of being loved. How often has one been loved byanother yet unable to return the sentiment? It is an uncomfortable feeling. Whereas, when feellove to give, even if it cannot be returned, you feel something powerful and moving. The artistknows this despite the prohibitionists attempts to sway the world to the contrary.

Art is not even an issue for the prohibitionist because, at heart, he is truly against the enjoymentand beauty of life as it is, and would prefer life as he would have it be. We are fortunate thatnearly all the artists throughout history have seen far beyond the prohibitionists limited dismalview and have left us with masterpieces in every media despite exile and censorship.

So what then is the meaning of life to the prohibitionist? Who knows? Im just as happy notknowing. Do they have one? If they do it can only be one of conformity. Im quite certain that


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the prohibitionist has no tolerance for any religion or creed that does not conform to their ideaof the perfect world they are attempting to create. And it would be quite boring one in myopinion. They certainly would like to abolish the artists world. They will never be able tohandle the view of life and reality, of the truth and beauty that is perceived in the mind of thecreative.

But do we step on a slug simply because it disgusts us in crossing our path? No, we tend to havea sense of compassion and tolerance that they could never understand. That is until we find outthat the harmless slug has become a parasite hidden in the human form threatening the veryessence of life.

Theres a bit of straddling the fence here on the part of the artist. Its a form of being on the team,but not playing. One foot on the side of humanity with the other foot on the side of somethingmuch bigger than the common man can see. Our creative genius is playing his own game on thesideline but hes also in our midst for us to glean support and inspiration from. For the role ofthe artist is to serve humanity by sharing with us the secret he has come to know. But what is itthat the artist, the sage, the genius sees that we dont? Why is it that we have a feeling that theyknow a secret that is outside the common mans reach? But they must. They not only seesomething we are unable or unwilling to see but, through their lifes experiences, have thewisdom to accept it upon seeing and realizing the truth of it.

Unfortunately we stumbled onto an unfortunate paradox. Its the prohibitionists who run theworld and the artists and geniuses that allow us to appreciate it and give it meaning. Yet this isnot lost on the artist. This is the horror that grips his very soul with a clear understanding of hissituation. In desperation for the preservation of the human spirit our genius must find anotherworld, another existence where he can escape to, a place where the genius of his spirit cannot bechained and ordered about; where his spirit cannot be enslaved by the judgmental cruelty ofmisguided society.

I personally cannot conceive of living in a place where I cannot escape the morality of society ifeven for a short while. The artists spirit must have a place to grow. Most societies have placesof refuge for such outcasts. The genius is a recognized outcast alongside other outcasts and canoften be found among the more simple folk; often celebrating his association with them in hisworks. The first place that might come to mind is out in nature, yet the artist is more concernedwith humanitys troubled spirit dwelling in the world of men than the haphazard perfection ofthe natural world. Upon occasion the artist will draw inspiration from nature, but usually toserve as a lesson in human pettiness. Nevertheless the artistic genius craves a place suitable tohis character.

But this refuge is not enough. The common man enjoys a limited view of life which the artistbroadens through his complex perspective. Good music or a great story needs a good listener. Amasterpiece painting or sculpture requires a good eye. Our genius is a reflection of the realworld around him. He must have contact with it and its subjects. Two artists looking at theexact same scene will have differing perspectives and it will reflect in their individual works;each containing an element of truth. But the artist, although he can be aloof and apart from theworld in one sense, needs connection with a kindred spirit in another. He needs a friend whosseen the same view or at least values his. He must find companionship in someone who both


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sharpens and softens him. He needs his listener. He spends his life in the hopes of findingsomeone who understands and appreciates his genius but, in reality, this someone must be a bitof an artistic genius as well; each completely different in character but with a uniqueunderstanding that the other fully comprehends truth and life also. But again it brings us towhat it is that the artist sees that remains so elusive for the common man?

Why is this vision so hard for the common man to see, and what is to be seen? Truth, becauseits striking simplicity makes it difficult to appreciate, hence truth is quite often overlooked.Imagine looking into a forest. Think of your favorite kind of forest or perhaps you prefer agarden or a desert or seascape. This is where inspiration begins for the artist an impressionthat moves him. Think of a scene that moves you. Now in that scene, can you really say whichbranch of a tree is beautiful or which stone is ugly? Which blade of grass is good and which bitof earth is bad? Which note is more melodic than the other? These are ridiculous questions tothe artist. Everything is an element necessary to the finished work. He is above making thesekinds of judgments.

Ultimately each element is a necessary part of an overall whole. The totality is a masterpieceand, as such, is perfect in its creation. For him life is the same way. Good and bad, the beautifuland disgusting, everything in every circumstance is necessary for the whole picture. They eachare part of a symphony that creates a masterpiece. The artist doesnt judge his subject. Hemerely sees its beauty and reflects it in his work. It is all a sublime beauty. It is a deluded mindthat goes around categorizing and judging things into good or bad, beautiful or ugly, sacred orprofane. In the artists mind it is all a beautiful masterpiece made to be appreciated by paintingoneself right into the picture. By really living within the truth and beauty of the painting of lifehe becomes the art.

The artist is divided in his view of the world, however. There he is, the artist, who is apart fromthe world simply existing and observing while at the same time needing to live directly in the

world in all its movement and suffering. But there is an internal division as well. There is theunaffected and enlightened artists mindexperiencing the world from afar without judging it orplacing value on what he sees yet, at the same time he is part of it, affected and sympathetic,often tormented, moving and suffering as well. It is precisely this that is so magnetic. Sharingthe suffering and anxiety, the artists defines a deeper reality and demonstrates the simple beautyof it back to those of us who missed it the first time. He may be the poet who so beautifullypaints a picture in words of the grace of daily life in a caf that weve taken for granted. Or afilm-maker who creates a beautiful epic masterpiece based on true story of a simple act ofheroism that touches us to the core in just a few scenes yet weve been unmoved witnessingthose same scenes in everyday life. You might see a street scene and ignore it where the artistwill sit down with brush and canvas and celebrate it.

The artist sees life from a different perspective, from many perspectives, he sees the biggerpicture. The mind of a genius does not get caught in the timeframe of now or in the space of theimmediate. He sees the necessity and the intelligence of the dichotomy of existence. The sacredand the profane, for him, stop being opposites. The drunkard and the ascetic priest serve thesame purpose. Living in the extremes from time to time develops him as a whole and allows himto see the world as a whole. Experiencing life like this is the art of being an artist. You mayarrive at this state through meditation, philosophy or living an unusual life outside the norm.


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But it is seldom attained through the mediocrity of conforming or conservatism. It can never bebought. Life is wide open and outside of mans petty laws, has very few inherent rules. Takeaway the element of human judgment and our silly value system of good and bad, right andwrong, large and small all those boring labels for defining reality and existence becomes one.That is the absolute beauty of existence, of life.

But if you dont or cant yet see through the eye of the genius, the artist or philosopher try givingup. Give up being an upstanding citizen and indulge. Give up your need to judge others. Giveup thinking of things in terms of good and bad or what you dont like. Give up cherishing youropinions and just feel life endlessly whirling around you. Give up your feeling that life is onlyyour time here and try and sense endless life. Give in to your temptations. You wont loseyourself. You might be surprised to find yourself.

This doesnt mean you have license to do whatever you fancy. Our artists arent murderers orthieves. They cause no suffering to anyone else. It is their personal experience and ours thatwere concerned with. The past and future go on infinitely. We lose ourselves in the vastness ofspace and the smallness of sub-atomic particles. At this moment there are 6 billion people onearth each of whom will be deadin 100 years. Were each a grain of sandon an endless beachexisting for the blink of an eye. There is an intelligence manifested in nature which we can onlydimly perceive. The artist will cherish this position in creation and leave a reflection of hismoment, a footprint. The genius smiles at the intelligence of it all. The drunkard enjoys thesunset. In truth each of us are an artist in some respect. By any means available experienceyour moment.

decadence and creative genius

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