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Some writers can just sit at their desks and bang the keys. Others need to get naked and climb a mulberry tree before they’re sufficiently inspired. Right now, we’re only interested in the latter.
1. Take Orders from a Dog
Sometimes the only thing standing between an artist and true greatness is the lack of a good pet. German composer Richard Wagner relied on his spaniel, Peps, to guide him through the creation of Tannhäuser, an epic opera about the struggle between sacred and profane love. Peps had his own stool next to Wagner’s piano, and whenever Wagner was having difficulty with a passage, he’d take direction from his pooch. In the process, Peps would go berserk when something didn’t agree with his ear, and Wagner would tweak the opera to please him.
2. Turn Hatred into Motivation
Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen despised Swedish playwright August Strindberg, but he couldn’t have written some of the greatest works of modern drama without him. The two traded jabs for well over a decade at the turn of the 20th century: Strindberg accuse Ibsen of copying his work, claiming that Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler ripped off his Miss Julie; Ibsen countered that Strindberg was psychotic. And Ibsen may have had a point -Strindberg was given to catatonic spells and often lashed out with a knife at invisible enemies behind his back. Ibsen loathed Strindberg so fiercely that he hung a portrait of his nemesis over his desk, which he used as a particularly masochistic form of inspiration. Ibsen would tell visitors, “I cannot write a line without that madman standing and staring down at me with those crazy eyes.”
3. Smell the Success
German writer Friedrich von Schiller composed the 1785 poem “Ode to Joy,” which Beethoven later set to music in his Ninth Symphony. What inspired Schiller’s passion for happiness? Rotten apples. The poet insisted that he needed the smell of putrefying fruit in the air to write, so he kept his desk drawer well stocked. But here’s the weird part: Schiller may not have been (completely) crazy. In 1985, researchers at Yale University found that the scent of spiced apples can lift a person’s mood significantly and stave off panic attacks.
4. Play Dead
When poet Dame Edith Sitwell was a little girl growing up in Victorian England, her parents would lock her into an iron frame to straighten out her spine. Sitwell hated them for it, and she rarely spoke to her parents later in life, even as she became increasingly famous for her poems about the London Blitz during World War II. The countless hours that Sitwell spent locked inside of that iron frame may have had a peculiar effect on her mind. As an adult, to cultivate a state of tranquility, Sitwell would wake up every morning and lie down in a coffin. After a few hours, she’d feel calm enough to write.
5. Get a New Hairdo
Ancient Greek orator Demosthenes found early in his career that he had trouble staying on task while studying or writing -it was just too tempting to throw on some sandals and go to town! But Demothenes found a clever way to make himself work: When he felt wanderlust, he’d shave off half of his hair. Knowing that he looked far too ridiculous to leave the house Demosthenes would be able to concentrate on his writing for a couple months at a time -or at least until his hair grew back.
6. Lay Everything Bare
Clothes can be such a distraction. Victor Hugo, the celebrated French author of realist novels that would become sentimental musicals (Les Miserables, The Hunchback of Notre Dame), conquered writer’s block by shutting himself in a room, completely naked, with just a desk, a pen, and paper. He ordered servants not to give him clothing until he’d finished working.
To write his final novel, Ninety-Three, Hugo took his nudity outdoors. Every morning, he’d stand in the buff on his roof and pour a bucket of water over his head. Fully refreshed, he’d then go into a glass cage, which he called his “look out” and write standing at a podium, naked.
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The article above, written by Ethan Trex and Linda Rodriguez McRobbie, is reprinted with permission from the Scatterbrained section of the September-October 2011 issue of mental_floss magazine. Get a subscription to mental_floss and never miss an issue!
Be sure to visit mental_floss‘ website and blog for more fun stuff!
When L. Frank Baum wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, could the yellow brick road have been inspired by a road in Peekskill, New York? City historian John Curran thinks so, and has done the research. Baum attended Peekskill Military Academy in 1868, when he was 12 years old. He did not enjoy the experience.
Mr. Curran believes the ordeal shaped the Wizard of Oz. “Whenever Baum had an emotional experience, such as his two years at Peekskill Military Academy, it showed up in the book,” Mr. Curran says during his Oz presentation at the museum. “Whenever the characters get off the yellow brick road, they get into trouble.”
In 2005, a Fulbright scholar and artist persuaded John Testa, who was the mayor of Peekskill at the time, to conduct an authenticity study on the road. Mr. Curran uncovered maps showing that West Street, which leads from the steamboat dock up a hill to the military academy, was indeed made of Dutch pavers, a common yellow-hued brick in the Dutch-settled area.
The maps showed Mr. Baum had to have walked along the road to get to school, Mr. Curran said.
Only a small part of the road is still brick. Curran would like to restore the road, or build a monument of some sort to Oz, but the city does not have the money for such a project. Link -via The Daily What
(Image credit: Shelly Banjo/The Wall Street Journal)
Life in Haiti-Canon 5D MKII & Glidetrack from Leclerc Brothers Motion Pictures on Vimeo.
When I first saw this title, I put it off assuming it would just show the depressing story of Haiti. I’m happy to report that I was wrong, because this piece by the Leclerc Brothers is beautiful. Yes, the destruction is evident, but the film serves a deeper purpose… The human condition, at this moment in time.
Music by: George Fenton from Planet Earth, “Namibia – The Lions and the Oryx”
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William Hoffman is a New York filmmaker who put this video together and uploaded it last August. It’s finally getting some viral activity, and rightfully so. It’s “a celebration of life that was inspired by David Eagleman’s book, Sum.”
I do enjoy a perfectly realized edit, and this one’s full of them. William’s website.
Her injuries haven’t stopped her from living: she’s been teaching blind children life skills. “Life is what you make it,” she said.And now she and her partner, Jeffrey, who’s also blind, are raising their 2-month-old baby boy, which leaves no time for self-pity. “Just because you have a tragic thing happen in your life, it doesn’t mean that your life is over,” she said.
If an inspiration poster is good, then three of them would be much better, right? That’s the idea behind The Inspiratomatic, which “remixes” a new motivational poster every time you hit the “Inspire Me” button. The result is at times quite funny!
Link – via thelastvcr
From the Upcoming 
ueue, submitted by PatBarrett.
If it’s an inspiring speech, you betcha it has been said in the movies somewhere. Here’s a truly inspiring video clip, edited by Matthew Belinkie of OverthinkingIt: 40 Inspirational Speeches in 2 Minutes.
Transcript:
Shame on you. This could be the greatest night of our lives, but you’re going to let it be the worst. And I guarantee a week won’t go by in your life you won’t regret walking out, letting them get the best of you. Well, I’m not going home. We’ve come too far! And I’m going to stay right here and fight for this lost cause. A day may come when the courage of men fails… but it is not THIS day. The line must be drawn HERE. This far, no further! I’m not saying it’s going to be easy. You’re going to work harder than you ever worked before. But that’s fine, we’ll just get tougher with it! If a person grits his teeth and shows real determination, failure is not an option. That’s how winning is done! Believe me when I say we can break this army here, and win just one for the Gipper. But I say to you what every warrior has known since the beginning of time: you’ve got to get mad. I mean plum mad dog mean. If you would be free men, then you must fight to fulfill that promise! Let us cut out their living guts one inch at a time, and they will know what we can do! Let no man forget how menacing we are. We are lions! You’re like a big bear, man! This is YOUR time! Seize the day, never surrender, victory or death… that’s the Chicago Way! Who’s with me? Clap! Clap! Don’t let Tink die! Clap! Alright! Let’s fly! And gentlemen in England now abed shall know my name is the Lord when I tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they’ll never take our Independence Day!
Hit play or go to Link [YouTube] – via Miss Cellania
