Calling yourself a creative is a mixed blessing. On one hand, this attribute can make it easy, even fun, to think in different ways and solve challenges using unconventional means.
Workplaces always benefit from having creative personalities on board. However, it never hurts to have someone around able to keep them on task, and rein them back now and then if their focus drifts.
At the same time, those with creative touches sometimes may offer a bit of randomness from day to day. Are they going to make you laugh silly or are they going to be more reserved?
History is full of all of these examples from tormented yet talented artists like Vincent Van Gogh to Leonardo da Vinci, who was believed to treat everyone well but still able to come up with amazing ideas. Then there was Mozart who was creative and competitive.
Luckily, a lot that we’ve learned about “artistic temperament” comes right from their own work. Artists may express themselves through their creations as well as through their interactions with others. Some liked to get together with friends, some kept private journals, some corresponded with others. Sometimes, sharing your thoughts and getting feedback from a fellow creative with letters of note can give you the boost you need to continue in your creative efforts.
The following are some of the more interesting letters of note from creative personalities.
- Richard Burton to Elizabeth Taylor. In the 1960s and 1970s, these A-list actors were all celebrity watchers were talking about, and this was even in the days before paparazzi hounded everyone’s lives. Both of them were at the top of their acting game, so anything they did was newsworthy. They did seem to love each other but there was also some passion involved that made them not always the best fit for each other as much as they tried. In one of Richard’s letters, written after their first divorce, he encouraged her to go out and find “a nice bloke.” But in the next line, he threatened to come and assault someone who isn’t such a nice bloke and doesn’t treat her like a lady. They later reconciled for a year but then divorced again.
- Frida Kahlo to Diego Rivera. Another on-again off-again on-again saga played out with these artists from Mexico. They met in 1940 when the free-spirited Frida Kahlo was an art student. She ended up being his fourth wife, and they had a passionate relationship until her death in 1954. (He married Wife No. 5 a year later.) During their stormy relationship, they often wrote to each other, and Frida’s letters of note are especially vivid, including listing each of his body parts one by one and how much she loves it. This actually is more sentimental than erotic, such as talking about finding refuge in his welcoming armpit and shoulder.
- F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Fitzgerald. Plenty of articles have been written on the love story between these two prominent novelists, and common words used such as “tumultuous” and “epic.” There was a lot of love but also a lot of fighting and drinking. They met at a country club dance and stayed married, though not necessarily by choice. Biographers have said after Zelda had an affair, she asked for a divorce, but her husband locked her in the house until she changed her mind. Their letters speak of their passion, and one in particular shared her view that when he wasn’t around, she felt inanimate and didn’t enjoy being around others.