The Red Mist and the Outrage of the Mediocre
I'm paid to give business advice. I don't really like doing this. However, I have a few mantras that I believe have some value and the first on the list is 'Don't start a Start-up – just start. After twelve years of posting on Mailchimp, I've migrated here and have been thinking about how the first posting needs to have world-changing influence, the wisdom of Buddha, the wit of Oscar Wilde and the turn of phrase of Coleridge – oh what the hell Robin, just get on with it! This is what's on my mind right now.
My agent Clive said to me one evening, when I was particularly vexed by the antics of a very successful singer, [whose name rhymes with chassis] “dull boring people make dull boring records Robin”. He was right on both counts. firstly, there are definitely dull boring records out there and secondly there is a correlation between fire, drama and fearlessness in art and the temperament of the artist in question.
In sport they call it ‘the red mist’. those moments when, on the field of play and in the heat of battle a player ‘loses it’ and either screams abuse at the ref, lashes out at an opponent or kicks the ball away in frustration at a decision.
David Beckham suffered a year of public outrage and hatred for getting sent off after kicking out from the turf at the World Cup.
Caravaggio, Van Gogh, Beethoven, Picasso. All were reviled during their lifetime, all were later revered for their passionate genius. And yes, they were all, more or less, a pain in the arse.
Showmen and women, sportsmen and women, creators of every age and nation who excel know what this feels like and know how necessary the red mist has always been in their temperament and how hard it is to control when the fire burns brightest.
I'm writing about this half way through the Paris Olympics, because we’ve already heard outrage and disapproval from pundits and also of course because it’s Paris! ‘Good luck in the event you've been training for solidly for a decade – but whatever you do and whatever you feel about the judges or your opponent, maintain your decorum at all times’.
This daft posturing from people who have never driven themselves with passion, never got up at 4am to run in the snow, never bared their soul in art, is a thoroughly negative, ill-informed and pointless exercise. The judgement of the couch potato.
Now I do try to balance arguments, so here is an 'on the other hand'…
On the other hand, I laugh with scorn when I hear athletes talk about their 'struggle' about how 'tough' it has been getting over a self-inflicted knee injury and about the 'sacrifices' they have made [missing a mate's wedding] all for Team GB. Er ... No ... All for self-gratification, glory, praise and the nation's reverence. Give us a break here. If you want to learn about 'tough' and 'sacrifice' just ask any of the 16 million people living with disabilities here or ask their friends and family. These folks – my folks – take toughness and determination to a whole other level. Athletes have a choice. Just stop and go back to the lemon drizzle cakes and a lie-in. We don't have a choice. When you fall from your chair, break yet another bone, lie there for 4 hours until someone finds you and you go to hospital for your 53rd operation and you are 9 years old or, like me, you bust your nose again and again walking into a door or falling over the Boris bike left in the middle of the pavement, that's when you find out if you are resilient and tough.
If I hear another interview with Kelly Holmes about her struggle I'll send this to her.