21 July 2011

Why The Bad Fosters More Talk Than the Good

Regarding things that are good to have but not always fun to explain. Misery loves company because misery likes to talk.


So we have this here Joy. Happiness. Whichever-word-for-a-thing-you-have-no-interest-in-complaining-about. It’s the ideal. The sought-after thing. And yet it seems to be a ‘truth universally acknowledged’ that a happy artist must be in want of a tragedy. There exists this notion that misery causes inspiration to surface where happiness has made it so unnecessary.


Legitimate? Maybe not entirely. But much as I would like to argue against this depressing thought, I don’t know how effectively I can.


Why?

Because I love dark, melancholy music. My favorites stories have an element of the tragic in them. And I love rants Ranting is just seven kinds of fun. I have SO many rants. When addressing a PROBLEM or a FAILING I often feel much more emphatic, effective and eloquent. If something makes me happy, well…


“I LOVED that movie. It was SOOO good. The characters, the scenery, the poignancy…augh! Man!”

“Yeah, I totally agree”


Now see how quickly that conversation ended? All my favorite bloggers are lamenting something, or mocking something. Rare is the day that I come across something that says “I love this day. What beauty and fun. Flowers!” and think to myself “I MUST read on!” But snark and derisive satire will get me every time. Moth to flame, really.


Bless me, I need a song to illustrate:



"לכתוב את העצב זה פשוט,

לכתוב את הכעס עוד יותר,

לכתוב אכזבה אני די מצליחה,

על אהבה בלי בעיה,

רק על השמחה עוד לא יצא,

ועד שלא יצא, אני אשאר עצובה"



To write sadness, that’s easy

To write anger, even easier

To write disappointment, I’ve already succeeded

And about love, no problem

Only joy hasn’t come out yet

And until it does, I’ll still be sad



Avigail Roz knows what she’s talking about. Anger and ranting are wordful.


I suppose that’s because happiness is basking. When the sun hits you. The sigh of contentment.


Joy (ironically) by being less definable, is more concise. Joy is that part of the book where the author knows better than to drown you in detail. She merely says:


“They sat quietly, awash in the beauty of it. There was no need to sully the thing with talk”

(In case you'd like to hear what Avigail Roz sounds like with her lovely, lovely voice--though it's not the song I quoted since I couldn't find that: Here's the song: V'ulai--"And Maybe")

1 comment:

  1. Thank you for posting again!! I especially liked the Hebrew...and I love that song as well.

    ReplyDelete