The Affliction Advantage - Part One
The Idea:
It’s no secret that being happy is an advantage. You perform better at work, have better relationships with your family, and probably have smoother skin and healthier-looking nose hair too. In fact, there is literally a bestselling book called The Happiness Advantage.
But what if you are not happy? What if there are lots of things going on in your life that make you miserable? What if you are downright angry at this moment?
While you try to improve your situation, I recommend you do something a little different with your afflictions and negative emotions - use it to your advantage in an artistic sense.
I call it the Affliction Advantage.
The story:
When Mark Manson wrote the blog article that later became his bestselling book - The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, he wasn’t happy. In fact, he was miserable… something to do with his girlfriend, in-laws, finance, WIFI speed… whatever I don’t remember. I only remember he hated the world at that moment. Drinking from a bowl of frustration and disappointment, he wrote the viral blog article. He mentioned that there would be no way he could have written that piece in a happy mental place.
Manson’s story reminds me of another guy who wrote another bestselling book tearing down the world - Karl Marx. It was proven that when he wrote the Communist Manifesto, he was plagued with painful boils near his anus and groin. So, literally, he was a bitter, butthurt guy. No wonder his words were filled with ghost chili-flavored acid.
There are many more examples: George Orwell’s 1984, Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing, Eminem’s Not Afraid (and the majority of his songs), and I can go on and on, were all artistically fueled by rage.
This also applied in my own example. 100 Days of Rejection wasn’t an idea I came up with when drinking a durian smoothie while playing naked twister with my wife. It was purely my reaction to a fear that crippled me for my whole life.
Takeaway:
We have all experienced negative emotions - frustration, disappointment, jealousy, desperation, rage, and hate.
Generally, we avoid them like the plague. In fact, we as a society are obsessed with happiness. Heck yeah, I do. I want my days to start with sunshine and smile, and end with euphoria and ecstasy. I want my family to be a happiness-generating machine. We all do.
But the reality is we have all been unhappy at one point or another in our lives. And when you are in those periods, are there ways to harness the negativity to produce amazing artistic work?
The answer is YES. I will write a part 2 on how to turn the Affliction Advantage from a theory to reality. And how to use it for amazing work.
But before that, the next time you see an angry but awe-inspiring life manifesto from me, please quietly introduce me to your favorite gastroenterologist specializing in anal fissures.