Why I Love Courtney Love

Courtney Love just seems so raw and full of uniqueness that it is the easiest thing for me to overcome
her infamous disgrace. What is art, if not the deepest expression of the unattainable part of the soul? It
helps us in our quest to retrieve the peaceful inner feeling which brings us closer to personal fulfilment.
Its extend goes way beyond being a simple mercantile commodity. Neither can it be reduced to
something beautiful (which by the way is only a question of perspective), but which possesses no
character of its own. When the conscious mind is damaged, you need to harvest the fruit of the
unconscious to heal it. Afterwards, this precious fruit can be shared with others, for instance via a tangible
good like a movie, drawing, painting, song, etc. This results in the burden of the artist’s suffering being
borne by all humanity, for the well-being of both the artist and the witness who has developed enough
sensitivity to enquire the artwork’s essence. To me, and following this definition, Courtney Love
embodies the finest version of art, which highly antithesis the messed up first impression which most
people have of her. This contrast is pin point what makes her so appealing to me, as she incarnates
exactly why I hate sensationalism and why I never judge a book by it’s cover. This is thereby how most
of us benefit from the most tortured artist’s creations as we inquire them while walking in the aura of
their work. And art can cause a great deal of ecstasy in the observer once he gets in touch with it. To get
the image right, just think of the tourists in Florence with Stendhal syndrome fainting and experiencing
dizziness while they are walking through so much beauty. This occurs without any of these soothing
things emerging from themselves, as it comes from the art object itself. If more of us knew this, we
would be way more grateful to the artists as a society. All of this is possible because we share as humans
what is called a collective unconscious, which only a few succeed to discover. This unconscious is what
helps us balance who we aim to be and what we feel. If you have no history and no wound of your own,
you just can’t write meaningful music, or fool anyone with something that resemble it. And if you try to
create anything in a foremost mendacious mindset, you will certainly lose most of your essence. The
effect of creation won’t be the same as if it came from a genuine place. To have a real impact, one must
create art with no control or external pressure over the outcome. Life and its traumatic and euphoric
events are what controls the outcome, via their effect on the psyche. That is why the best music pieces
are created by the most injured or unstable individuals, if they are open to exorcize all this material from
inside. Courtney Love fits the description once again, as she seems in touch with her feelings more than
anybody else I ever came across. The subconscious mysteriously generate the masterpiece’s raw material
in the head of the individual, and it needs to be refined, captured and expressed, for others to really be
able to enjoy it. This is the true reason I crave artists and when someone says damaged people are worth
nothing or not much, it truly tears my heart apart. This type of person is likely uncapable of capturing
an artist’s masterpiece true value and his appeal to any work of art probably reside in its inexplicable
prestige. To me, this is either too rationalistic reasoning or it comes from a person with a lack of
emotional depth/empathic abilities. By my many encounters, I realized that my intense attraction to
other’s suffering and my volition to reduce the pain in others has never put me in a weak position, and
honestly, I don’t think I could have ever lived happily without it. When you are willing to care, the
message shared in silence by the screaming eyes of suffering is worth more than a million words. I felt
all this intensity while I was watching Barbara Walter’s 1995 interview with Courtney Love. The urge of
emotions I felt is what appealed me to discover her music. Someone told me once that the most powerful
messages are the ones communicated through hope and at the time, I though it was full of insight.
However, what came to my reflection while watching the interview is totally different. I think the
messages filled with despair are of even stronger nature, especially when there is no one to resonate
with it. You just need to dive deeply and gaze into someone’s eyes to seize this object of infinite value.
By doing that, you will truly understand what loneliness and agony means. You will initiate a benevolence
between you and the person facing you and it is one of the greatest feeling on earth. The human
connection generated by those interactions is limitless, mutual and will bring you closer to your true
self. Music is just a mean to capture a little bit of that into others. Courtney Love’s voice is off key most
of the time, but the propelled emotion is always authentic, and her poetic lyrics have a powerful effect
on me. She’s screaming authenticity and I cannot be fulfilled without this kind of emotional baggage in
my life. This is why I love Courtney Love so much.