Steppin' To The Bad Side
or : The Black Sheep
Recently making the rounds has been an article stating, "That those who stay up late, have messy rooms and swear excessively" are more creative and tend to have more fun. For me it's a big TICK in all three boxes. These types of click-bait articles have been circulating for years - giving some hope to all of us messy creatives. Growing up, I would recite the "Cluttered desk/ cluttered mind vs. empty desk/empty mind" to my parents almost weekly. I still keep the qoute in my mind as I go about my business in my organized mess. However quotes and clickbait articles only go so far ... if I was going to commit to this excuse (I mean... lifestyle!) I would need some cold hard facts.
Enter the book, Black Sheep: Why Being Bad isn't all Bad by Richard Stephens. I spotted the book yesterday while browsing through the Wellcome Collection Museum gift shop. Being a bit of a Black Sheep in my family, I was intrigued by the cover alone. Of course, a museum dedicated to the human psyche, was successful in it's "exit through the gift shop" strategy and I left with my own copy of the book.
Since then I haven't been able to put it down.
Dr. Stephens is an expert on all things bad, he even won a Nobel Prize for his work on swearing! Stephens even suggests that those who use profanity are more fluent linguistically. Through his engaging and comical style, he even touches on procrastination and states that research shows wasting time can actually be effective as the added time helps you solve more complex problems. Another TICK in my box!
Black Sheep covers a range of human emotions, habits, and vices. From sex to alcohol, messy rooms and rollercoaster rides (which coincidentally the book can feel like) no topic is too taboo. And each has been cited and backed up by science. With chapters titled "Natural High" and "Sleep Around" you're sure to have plenty of conversational gold at your next outing.
So while plenty of people my age are settling down, getting married and having babies (yay!)... I'm over here in London continuing to be a black sheep and loving every minute of it. At least now it's being backed by science! Enrich your life today by taking a few risks ; stay up late, procrastinate and curse like a sailor!
You can pick up your copy of Black Sheep by Dr. Richard Stephens through Amazon here
