4 ms·

I admire the sentiment but I doubt many books or paintings have been created by active duty soldiers or people currently mining coal

Jun8 5y ago
On the contrary, powerful stimuli like war have always been a driving force for people to create, e.g. here are some examples of paintings done in WW1 by soldiers: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/remembering-americas-official-artists-war-180952321/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/remem.... And, of course, there's "Dulce et Decorem Est" (https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46560/dulce-et-decorum-est https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46560/dulce-et-decoru...): Wilfred Owen, who wrote some of the best British poetry on World War I, composed nearly all of his poems in slightly over a year, from August 1917 to September 1918. In November 1918 he was killed in action at the age of 25, one week before the Armistice.
tonyedgecombe 5y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siegfried_Sassoon#The_Western_Front:_Military_Cross https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siegfried_Sassoon#The_Western_... http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/1274808/ http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/1274808/
triceratops 5y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill_as_writer#Writing_career https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill_as_writer#Wr... Stephen King began writing Carrie, his first published novel, when he was working as a janitor: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrie_(novel)#Publication_history https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrie_(novel)#Publication_his... (although by the time it was actually published, he was a high-school teacher).
- jefurii 5y ago
  I don't want to romanticize physical and/or repetitive labor, but in some ways that's the perfect kind of job for a writer/composer/artist. I worked a number of different jobs during college: farm laborer, busboy, janitor. The thing all these jobs had in common was that once I learned the ropes I was bored and my mind roamed far and wide. I always carried a notebook with me, and I would work extra hard (physically) make time for writing down the crazy literary and musical ideas that popped into my head. I had time to mentally explore and develop ideas. If I wasn't going to school I would have gone home and worked on those ideas. Nowadays I write software during the day and my mind often feels drained at the end of the day and I have to be their for my family. I find myself looking back on those earlier jobs with a bit of wistfulness, but I could never afford to live on the pay they offer.

Jun8 5y ago

On the contrary, powerful stimuli like war have always been a driving force for people to create, e.g. here are some examples of paintings done in WW1 by soldiers: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/remembering-americas-official-artists-war-180952321/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/remem.... And, of course, there's "Dulce et Decorem Est" (https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46560/dulce-et-decorum-est https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46560/dulce-et-decoru...): Wilfred Owen, who wrote some of the best British poetry on World War I, composed nearly all of his poems in slightly over a year, from August 1917 to September 1918. In November 1918 he was killed in action at the age of 25, one week before the Armistice.

tonyedgecombe 5y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siegfried_Sassoon#The_Western_Front:_Military_Cross https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siegfried_Sassoon#The_Western_... http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/1274808/ http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/1274808/

triceratops 5y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill_as_writer#Writing_career https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill_as_writer#Wr... Stephen King began writing Carrie, his first published novel, when he was working as a janitor: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrie_(novel)#Publication_history https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrie_(novel)#Publication_his... (although by the time it was actually published, he was a high-school teacher).

jefurii 5y ago
I don't want to romanticize physical and/or repetitive labor, but in some ways that's the perfect kind of job for a writer/composer/artist. I worked a number of different jobs during college: farm laborer, busboy, janitor. The thing all these jobs had in common was that once I learned the ropes I was bored and my mind roamed far and wide. I always carried a notebook with me, and I would work extra hard (physically) make time for writing down the crazy literary and musical ideas that popped into my head. I had time to mentally explore and develop ideas. If I wasn't going to school I would have gone home and worked on those ideas. Nowadays I write software during the day and my mind often feels drained at the end of the day and I have to be their for my family. I find myself looking back on those earlier jobs with a bit of wistfulness, but I could never afford to live on the pay they offer.