I think most of us would agree with The Doors’ band famous song title.
The text of the memorable song, titled “People are strange” still echoes in my mind. Sung by charismatic Jim Morrison, in one of the most recognizable rock band ever – The Doors, bring up the question of nature and conditions of the humans. The fact is that this question is still actual, on the same level as it was in the ’60s of the XX century.
What makes people so strange?
There are a lot of answers. I am sure that we all know some cases of human’s peculiar behavior. Today, I will focus on probably one of the most popular kinds of people’s ways of being strange: self-destruction.
The first example will be connected with an already mentioned singer (and poet) – Jim Morisson. In the beginning, it was LSD. Later – the alcohol. Addictions devastate people, with a breakneck pace. They are probably one of the fastest and efficient ways to self-destruct.
Jim Morrison was not an exception.
He developed an alcohol addiction during the ’60s. This fixation much affected his performances on stage. He died at the age of 27. The autopsy was not performed. Thus, the exact cause of Morrison’s death remains unknown to this day. We can only imagine how his body was devastated and strung out by all the stimulants he used.
Another example of possessing self-destructive behavior is one of my favorite writers – Fyodor Dostoevsky.
A lot of people are unaware of Dostoevsky’s connection to the gambling world. During his life, the writer battled a gambling addiction to the game of Roulette. This bad habit made him bankrupt several numbers of times. After earning some money for the translations services, he started to bet more regularly and ended up losing all of his money.
To pay off some of his debts, he wrote the novel – “The Gambler.”
To write his book, he drew inspiration from his own experiences. The main character of this story is a man whose life dangles between his obsessions with chance and with love. Dostoevsky’s problematic gambling lasted for ten years. He continuously pawned his wives’ jewels. When he was receiving additional money, he was losing it almost immediately. At his lowest point of addiction, the writer was spending money on gambling, instead to use it to take care of his starving children.
Luckily, the Russian artist overcame his gambling addiction in 1871 ten years before his death.
These two examples of world-famous geniuses show us that not only we – the average people (including myself) are strange. We all are humans. We all possess all the tools to touch the sky or hit bottom. It is only up to us which way we choose.
