What do the names Percy Shelley, Lord Byron, and Sylvia Plath have in common? Or Hunter S. Thompson and William S. Burroughs? Or for a Canadian twist, Milton Acorn and Elizabeth Smart?
For one, they were all writers. For another, they were narcissistic and depressed. Please understand that this is not my personal opinion, but historians and biographers tell us that these writers were -- dare I say "haunted" by their personal demons. Some of them acted and lived outrageously (I haven't mentioned them all here, but perhaps Oscar Wilde as another example might come to mind) and as in Lord Byron's case, was refused burial services at both St. Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Cathedral because of his, um, shall we say, "flamboyance"?
Others had what have been referred to as public meltdowns.
Among movie stars and sports personalities, a "Three Mile Island" is perhaps not totally unexpected. Apparently, from recent news reports, Charlie Sheen has been under pressure, so much so that, according to today's interview with Jen Sookfong Lee on CBC Radio's All Points West, hosted by Jo Ann Roberts, Sheen's last name has become a verb, as in "We went to Las Vegas and went sheening down the Strip."
(But didn't we always know he was a meltdown waiting to happen?) I imagine "sheening" to be some kind of wild cavorting with friends of questionable reputation. There, I've just used the present participle as a noun. But maybe I'm wrong about Charlie.
What does this all have to do with us? Well, we need to be careful. Be careful of what photos we throw on Facebook. Our future fans could see them. Speak kindly to those around us. Share our knowledge and expertise even though publishing is a competitive world. Yes, all those things we learned in kindergarten are still important.
Most of all, if we feel a meltdown coming, let's decompress by getting our angst out of our system through writing.
We'll produce some fabulous fiction and poetry!
No comments:
Post a Comment