The Search for Meaning: Creative Responses to Depression
October 2007
Banner photo: Davis McCardle/Getty Images
Being Creative About Your Blues
The concept "I interact, therefore I am"--as a more relevant, contemporary interpretation of Descartes' "I think, therefore I am"--underlies the ideas expressed in this article. The self cannot exist in isolation, although those suffering from depression and other painful experiences may perceive isolation as their reality. The simple and courageous act of opening a dialogue, in itself, is proof of the creative self's ability to interact and authenticate our connection to others.
Images from the film "Dark to Light" by Daniel Askill, which accompanies the "Dark to Dawn" exhibition
This type of engagement with the universe that surrounds us may seem insignificant, but, in reality, it is the only place where effective action can be taken. It is just such "ordinary" interactions that bring about transformation in both our own lives and in society.
The axiom attributed to the Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu, "The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step," is surprisingly hard to enact when we are feeling the suffering of depression and isolation--sometimes seemingly impossible. However, it is important to recognize that human beings are, despite the best efforts of authoritarians and fearmongers, essentially of equal potential. We are equal in terms of our ability to create hope from any situation we may encounter.
These ideas are central to the exhibition "Dark to Dawn: Being Creative About Depression" created and launched this year by SGI-Australia in cooperation with Professor Stuart Rees of the Sydney University Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies and director of the Sydney Peace Foundation. My own struggles with depression have provided a powerful impetus for my involvement in this effort.
The exhibition aims to provide an opportunity to perceive dialogue as a first creative step in helping transform the experience of isolation and suffering into one from which people can establish a sense of purpose and well-being. We do not promote a particular cure but hope to open a possibility of connection for those who may need it.
Opening a Connection
Dialogue forms a pivotal action for ending the isolation and disengagement that often characterize the suffering caused by depression. It is in this hopeful action that we find an expression for our potential and an opening of a connection with the lives of others. When we pursue this connection, we discover a common experience, the fact of our shared suffering. Within the creative act of sharing is the possibility of the solace and joy of an engaged life.
Even the most simple verbal exchange requires extremely advanced and complicated physiological and neurological processes. It is surprising how few of us wonder at the treasure of creative expression that is dialogue. Simply coming to appreciate this miraculous aspect of our humanity may stimulate a different level of interaction with our friends, family and community. It may also help enable those who suffer from depression and isolation to appreciate that their existence itself represents a unique realization of life's potential. That, despite current emotions and feelings, there exists within each of us a wondrous potential for the creation of valuable and transformative expression.
Whether we are conscious of it or not, at each moment our life is dynamically engaged and interacting with our environment, with the life of the universe around us. Buddhist teachings recognize this truth as "the oneness of life and its environment." The same recognition is expressed in these words by the artist Auguste Rodin: "The artist is the confidant of nature, flowers carry on dialogues with him through the graceful bending of their stems and the harmoniously tinted nuances of their blossoms, every flower has a cordial word which nature directs towards him."
This sublime dialogue is not the exclusive privilege of the artist. Each of our individual lives in its very essence is a creative expression of, and engagement with, the universal life.
Art may be said to be an exploration of the infinite expressions of interaction that form our human experience. Painting, music, poetry, literature and all other recognized genres of art reveal an expression of the artist's commune with their environment, and their own internal sensibilities, which comes to life when the viewer enters into dialogue with the artist's work. This exchange can evoke emotions, thoughts and further expression, and the value of the art is unlocked through this engagement.
The Opportunity of Encounter
In the Buddhist view, each "eternal moment" contains the opportunity for us to reveal the intrinsic value of life through interaction. These encounters are not limited to our conscious mind but include all of our subtle, and sometimes unconscious, interactions. This means that our everyday existence provides an opportunity for expression. This is not dependent on whether circumstances are good or bad, or our situations comfortable or painful. What matters is if we can activate the belief that each moment holds an opportunity for polishing our expression, regardless of our circumstances or condition.
By the term "polishing our expression" I am attempting to suggest that each of us has a completely unique "self," and this "self" is revealed when it engages with others. The most creative and direct engagement with others is through heart-to-heart dialogue. This type of dialogue is the antithesis of isolation and is a means of polishing our life, no matter how dismal or destructive it may seem. This is real art in daily life.
The best opportunity for heart-to-heart dialogue exists where there is a sense of community, where one is not judged and can freely engage in expressing one's thoughts and emotions. Within the SGI movement, the local discussion meeting is the practical realization of this ideal. In this space people from any background or experience can gather and share their victories and woes in an environment of inclusiveness and creative dialogue. Such encounters develop from a vision of community as the creative "space" where dialogue is treasured and the action of self-transformation forms the foundation of hope for humanity as a whole.
We cannot detach the individual experience from the whole if we are to anticipate real progress for humanity. The pursuit of political, economic or military power and domination cannot be the sustained expression of humanity if we are to survive and flourish. Dialogue is the soft power that promotes the fundamental respect needed for humanistic development and simultaneously recognizes the significance of the individual and the engagement with the collective.
Uncovering Our Potential
History is full of stories of common people, in extreme circumstances, manifesting the type of courage and integrity that inspires others to believe in their own potential. A person's greatness is revealed through their behavior. We may not feel like a great human being, but when we reach out to another and share our suffering and joy, we acknowledge the potential within ourselves and all people. This recognition gives our own life purpose and reveals the potential we possess to touch the hearts and minds of others. In the words of holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl, "Everything can be taken from a man or a woman but one thing: the last of human freedoms to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."
The following quote from Daisaku Ikeda encapsulates the potential of the simple and courageous act of dialogue: "As human beings, let us reach beyond our small, limited selves and attain an all-encompassing state of being, our hearts communing with the vast universe." Dialogue opens a window to engaging with life itself.
Whether a person is great or not is not determined by others' judgment but through one's own commitment to live with gratitude for one's life, and to reveal this through a commitment to sharing it with others.
Greg Johns is the general director of SGI-Australia, a musician and the impetus behind SGI-Australia's "Dark to Dawn: Being Creative About Depression" exhibition.
