Time to put on my philosophers cap on for a moment. (Like many of the hats I wear, it is also tin-foiled :)
The ambition of many philosophers/artists has lead to the inevitable striving to become better persons. It is this insistent drive to supersede themselves, that often strikes at the drum of self enrichment. To be better then oneself, to expand, is in a sense to become a new person. This newness through a self-discovery, is as engrossing as any lifelong purist.
During a conversation with a friend from the States, one of the supposed paths of improvement was discussed. The logic that follows, was that; (A) I want to improve; (B) all improvement is the survival of some form of suffering ; (C) therefore I need to suffer in order to become better. The final point of this argument was extended to artists, with the view that only artists that have gone through the necessary process, e.g ( derailment, setbacks, suffering and loss) can produce the greatest works of art. While I will not disagree that many artist that endure hardship use it to produce great works, I will note that it is however not necessary. Specificity it is a misinterpretation of the creative act of acclimating oneself with the proper mindset to become successful.
Consider.
An important distinction while seeming subtle can make a world of difference, i.e. (A) Challenges are vital ; (B) Challenges do not necessarily equal suffering. Let us consider the example of Homer the Greek poet who wrote epic war stories. his challenge was to create and represent a world that he could never see. This also speaks against the notion that in order to understand and express a world you must live through it. The blind poet never picked up a sword in his life, he never experienced the hardships of war, however his treaties and stories of war stand on their own, as remarkable feats. His role in writing the Iliad was a challenge. It acted as a self imposed calling to achieve and accomplish the extraordinary.
When Suffering Causes Greatness, it is by Accident.
The angry and enraged mindset would not set anyone into a super-productive state. In a very practical sense, anger reduces your mental faculty and decision making. People that suffer anger tend do poorly in all maters. Consider Dostoevsky as he began and wrote much of his Great novel “Crime and Punishment” in such despondent conditions; death of his wife, death of his brother, saddled with great debts. Furthermore he signed an agreement that stipulated if he did not produce a new novel within a relativity short time, all rights to Dostoevsky's past and future works would revert to a greedy creditor. By all means, It seems the ordinary unnerving of matters would include allowing himself to be caught up in the conditions . As history has taught us, Dostoevsky was not an ordinary man. It was more likely that Dostoevsky great works was inclined to the direct result of the liberation of his own mind. It was the artistic surrender to the inward compulsion for greatness, rather then the dwelling on the hardships that engrossed him.
Consider the proverbial rabbit hunting story that takes its place within many zen tales. It involves a women hunting a fleeing rabbit.
After traveling off into the forest in search of it, she stumbles upon her mark in a glade. Her desires are peeked and every thought in her head, is leading towards its procurement. With axe in hand she begins to lunge towards it. It is however no good, she begins again, this time with a different tack. The result still no good. Now anger starts to trail her every movement, she darts left the rabbit moves right. She moves right, the rabbit moves left. She moves north the rabbit moves south. This continues , without the sight of an end, the rabbit is taunting her almost every step. Finally she gives up shooting out in a rage she slams her axe into a tree. At that moment the axe breaks apart with the sharp end flying off into the woods. She turns around much to her astonishment, she spots the rabbit slain by the blade of her axe.
In the case of the Russian author the challenge was to produce a great novel. The suffering and his conditions – were also present. However he catches his proverbial rabbit, and not as a consequence of chasing the rabbit, but giving up on that mindset of ineptitude and suffering. The surrender to the inward desire to attain that goal also meant getting out of the way of his own progress. It might take tired legs succumb to an endless pursuit, or the hardening of conditions, the raining in the forests, the bleakness of the path, but ultimately the action necessary is still the same.
