Beethoven's Chamber Pot — Three Tips for the Creative Life

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The first thing that greeted the Baron of Tremont when he visited his friend Ludwig van Beethoven in 1809, was the aroma of the great composer's unemptied chamber pot. He said of the place, "Picture to yourself the dirtiest, most disorderly place imaginable..."

This isn't the first picture most of us have when we think of Beethoven. We think about his mass of untousled hair, his intensity, his majesty. We think of the opening notes of his 5th symphony, or the "Ode to Joy" from his 9th.

So now, think about his chamber pot. This grotesque smelling office where Beethoven holed himself away from the world, his hearing nearly gone, and his pounding on the piano almost unbearable to the listener. Behind the curtain, his life was a long way distant from glamorous.

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Three Tips for the Creative Life

1. Think Big
   Think bigger, and bigger, and bigger. How big can you think? Forget the limits. How will you be remembered 200 years from now?

2. Empty your chamber pot.
   It might not seem important now, but take the time to take care of yourself, and your relationships, so that you can live a long life, and care for those around you. Beethoven suffered greatly. And in my opinion, that suffering didn't create better art; it hindered an even deeper level of greatness (like the health, longevity, and lifelong genius shown by Papa Haydn, Beethoven's idol and mentor).

3. Hum through the streets and the fields
   Go out of your house humming. Lift your arms up in the air. Beethoven's "madness" is what has kept him in our minds until today, alongside the beauty of what he created.

Catch you on the flip side. We are alive!

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