DESTROY the idea that artists are only good if they’re tortured: that mental illness is the...

DESTROY the idea that artists are only good if they’re tortured: that mental illness is the source of genius and that tragedy is key for inspiration. The only “advantage” that artists with depression (or any other mental disorder) have is that they spent a good portion, if not all of their life, in such desperate need of a purpose or an outlet that they devoted TIME to their craft.

And I’m talking grueling, unending hours. Because the moments when they were creating were the only times they didn’t feel like dying.

My depression? Has not HELPED my art. It has not INSPIRED my art. It has locked me in my own home for days and weeks at a time, sometimes barely able to so much as feed myself. My depression has gotten in the way of my art–has put me through stretches of time where nothing, not even the things I love, seem appealing to me. Where even getting out of bed in the morning is impossible and exhausting and no work gets done.

These tortured artists aren’t good because of their PAIN, they’re good because of their PRACTICE. Because when they had NOTHING, they had ART. If you are lucky enough to be an artist who doesn’t suffer from any kind of mental disorder, be thankful.

And work your hardest.