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griffin daily news magazine
ARE ARTISTS
i I ■ :-v Necessarily
EE. ✓ 'Wj ..... Hr; ' <.„***• Neurotic ?
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• Many nm-emOn people think so, because aa
artist's needs are different from their own. CaKke
most people, an artist must have solitude for his
work. Also he must m a int a in d e t ach m e n t of thought
and independence of action if ha to to express his
ideas and talents freely and spontaneously. Com
pared with average individuals, an artist Is usu
ally less self-conscious and less bothered about what
others think of him. Hence he is sometimes thought
of as a loser; withdrawn, anti-social, arrogant and
irresponsible.
Actually most artists would like the same mate
rial comforts and social communication that give
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• Should preschoolers obey ruks ?
Ten but they cannot be expected
to obey consistently unless they
receive patient and understanding
guidance. Psychological studies
show that parents who establish
rules of conduct, and enforce them
with kindness and respect, rear hap
pier and more secure children.
A youngster’s conviction that he
is loved and respected should b#
established before school age. This
will enhance his trust in people
and form the basis for self-confi
dence and self-control. Parents also
need confidence and self-control,
along with understanding and pa
tience, if they are to cope success
fully with a toddler’s inconsistent
behavior. At times it is difficult to
understand the motivation behind
a child’s erratic acts, and still more
difficult to correct them without
causing a child to feel unloved.
Regressive behavior tends to oc
cur when a small child is fright
ened, overly excited or tired. For
example, he is proud of new achieve
ments such as dressing without
2
help, pouring hto own milk, ate;
When he la upset however, he may
need reassurance that someone
loves him enough to do these
things for him.
When a child who has learned to
share hla toys suddenly refuses to
let another youngster touch them,
he has a good reason insofar as he,
totnmclf , is concerned. If punished
or severely scolded, It may intensi
fy his antagonism and fear, along
with his determination to look out
for himself. However, if his parents
discover and explain the emotion
that prompted his anti-social act,
It is less often repeated.
Tattling, teasing and whining are
usually generated by fear, and often
wear down the mother's patience
and temper. Edith G. Neisser wrote
In Parents’ Magazine that a child
who is given to such habits needs
to be helped; not disapprovingly
silenced. In this way, she said, the
youngster expresses his anxieties;
if they are brought into the open
their threat is greatly relieved.
(O tsee, King Features Syndicate, toe J -
pleasure and satisfaction to others. However, thorn
factors are less Important that his ased tor self
expression. Aa a rula it demands seif-discipline to
sacrifice immediate rewards in order to pursue the
hoped-for perfection of his work. It requires cour
age for the artist to ha Jut what he is instead of
trying to prove himself to ho what ha to net
This does not mean that artists to general are
lew neurotic than other people. They are often
plagued by the conflicting desires tor a normal Ufa
on the one hand; and the urge for self-realisation
on the other. When this disturbing conflict cannot
be resolved, some highly creative people drift into
• Do most people fear bard work ?
Vo, but at times most of try
to avoid hard work, even when it
appears crucial to our welfare.
Many people (particularly men)
procrastinate, discount a task’s im
portance, and mentally, build up a
minor chore into a man-size project
They often berate themselves for
their indolence and lack of deter
mination.
When a man is caught in this
wave of sloth he begins to fed
acutely inferior. However, neither
inferior ability nor lack of good in
tentions has anything to do with
his mental state at the outset In
such situations there Is an inner
conflict between good intentions
and ego-destructive motives; the
latter showing up in personality
deterioration. The individual is
hounded by anxiety and timidity;
characteristics that interfere with
his ability to do the things that are
best for him.
Scolding or moralizing seldom
help in these situations; In fact
they often kindle feelings of infer-
mental ar emotional It to MMI Ijf
ftttttHDfluCf vfittC
duced by e mo t ion al conflict am necessary to
artist; that only his recuperative powers
him to become personally enriched by confUcte that
might crush a normal citizen.
The tote Dr. Karen Homey believed that neither
suffering nor neurosis is helpful to an artist Brea
when stress is an important factor, It to not
sarily neurotic. Them to enough distress In life
without neurotic conflict, aha wrote, particularly for
the artist with hla greater sensitivity to beauty and.
harmony, and to discord and suffering;
iority and worthlessness. When the
destructive impulses are uncon
scious, psychiatry may help by ex
posing and breaking down neurotic
interference with performance.
However, many persons become ef
fective workers through homemade
psychological techniques for mak
ing them perform ardous tasks in
the pursuit of significant goals.
Dr. Henry C. Everett, Massachu
setts psychiatrist, described some
of these techniques in Mental
Health. He called them "mental
mechanisms of strength"; simple
mental expedients that are widely
used to achieve effective perform
ance. Generally based on self-dis
traction from unpleasant aspects of
work, they set up reminders of
eventual reward, and dilute the an
ticipation of pain by pride in ability
to "take it" Each person must
work out his own devices, Dr. Ever-;
ett said, but It always pays to learn ;
how en themselves other effective in such people trying strength- mo*; j
meats of weakness.