I once read an article in university about the “Starving Artist”, and its comparison to a slender, and a then-very-young Kate Moss when she first appeared as a model (in a Calvin Klein shoot I believe). Young, face quite daunt and innocently passionate. This ironically hungry image mirrored that of the starving artist, who whilst perhaps really starving, was also hungry for success, recognition and well, a passionate career.
Needless to say, this starvation for success was a sacrifice. But I also read that this starvation in turn fed as inspiration. So in theory, to be hungry was to be inspired, feel inspired. I find this weirdly beautiful and perhaps because of the people I was surrounded by from an early age, I knew I had to do something passionate with my life. Quite frankly, I actually despise the idea of making important decisions (i.e. career choices) based on other people’s accords because you end up sacrificing not just your hunger, but your heart.
So, let’s consider this. Have you ever ate so much that you felt so bloated/full that you didn’t want to move? Have you ever ate too much that your eyes had wanted to sink despite trying so hard not to let them? Yeah. In this respect, starving awakens the senses, that as a Creative, I can relate to being hungry, to being inspired because that flare of inspiration needs the sudden adrenaline to spark interest of a subject to be researched. Sparing time to eat breaks up that cycle, kills that fire in your belly. One of my classmates even pulled off an all-nighter because she had an idea in the middle of the night, which all Creatives know, that just like a dream, one needs to record these thoughts/ideas to preserve them since our memory awfully fades.
Being hungry isn’t exactly a satisfying feeling but it cleanses the soul. Because do you know what’s really poetic? When you’re empty and nothing but feel absolutely everything. Hungry and lack of, but so full of.
Hoi Yin Li 