It's Mad but It's Magic [The Perspective of Luck]

“Tryna tell you Son if it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all”

                         -Ray Charles “If it Wasn’t for Bad Luck” 1969

Ray sings the blues, of course. The blues forces the listener look at the bad stuff in a different light.

Write the blues... and the bad stuff becomes the inspiration.
Sing the blues... and the bad stuff turn into the melody.  

Without the bad stuff (...cheating lovers, broken hearts, being banished from Georgia...) there is no blues.

It’s mad but it’s magic. If bad luck is a magic spell, there are a billion counter-spells to turn it into Good Luck.
In Ray’s case, the counter-spell was music. The Blues thrives on the Bad Luck of the creator. It turns one person's momentary Bad Luck into something amazing that can be enjoyed in a positive way by many.

Ladies and Gentlemen...
Stephen Hawking
.

At every point in history…on every continent… on every planet in every universe and every parallel universe… there are people who have taken their Bad Luck and used it as inspiration to create.

Musicians, authors, painters, playwrights, animators, illustrators, photographers…

Athletes, geniuses, inventors, scientists...

Don’t panic, don’t get cocky, 

and don’t forget to feel. Feelings 

used appropriately spark inspiration. 

Inspiration put into effect is the 

secret ingredient in the counter-curse.

I had a talk with a friend recently about The Perspective of Luck. A lot of this entry is actually based on our conversation. Why do some who seem to have had the most unlucky experiences sometimes end up creating the coolest lives for themselves? Is it just an illusion? Is the grass always greener?

But then, why do some let themselves be consumed by the wrath of Bad Luck and continue to wallow in their own misfortune?

Some of the most complex ideas are actually the most simple. The answer lies in the luck-holder’s perspective. Positivity is key.

“There’s nothing wrong with blind positivity. There’s plenty wrong with blind negativity.”

                                -SheDevil Psychobitch 2013

While blind positivity is certainly a start, it alone does not always induce the magic wormhole that turns Bad Luck into Good Luck. The curse of Bad Luck needs a little extra effort on the luckholder’s part in order to spark the counter-curse.

It’s easy to want to sink into a pit of “oh poor me” when hit with the curse of Bad Luck, but it’s those who become inspired by the curse who break the curse.

As mentioned, there are a billion ways to do this. I can’t tell you (the reader) how to do this for yourself. Everyone has streaks of Bad Luck. Everyone has bad shit happen to them.
Everyone has a different path, a different journey, a different counter-curse.

“Shit happens. Life happens.  Enjoy the chase and cherish the confusion”

                                                -SheDevil Psychobitch 2014

“Write about what makes you anxious until it makes your famous”

-some quote from the “The Carrie Diaries” TV show that I am likely remembering slightly incorrectly but I like it and am quoting regardless because it’s my fucking blog and I can do that

Charles Bukowski "An Almost Made Up Poem"
year of origin unknown

Last year, after months of Bad Luck and the “oh poor me” mentality, I opened up “Confessions of a SheDevil” as a last resort to write-o-babble about what had happened to me. I'm convinced that doing this saved my life at the same time as it catapulted me back into my creative niche.

Did I write myself out of Bad Luck?
I like to think that's exactly what I did.

Maybe it’s magic…

Or maybe it’s just perspective. ;)