The Frankenstein Condition

Robert B Smith

Description

The Frankstein Condition is an engaging, self-deprecating and often funny look at our modern day tendency to construct our identities and expectations around what we see as the best of others. Much like Victor Frankenstein, we create our monsters from pieces of the people around us. People who we admire: celebrities, family, friends and social media. As with Victors creation, our monster is destructive and brings with it anxiety and depression.

This book explores topics like: envy, jealousy, self-image, peer influence, drug shaming, self-medication and of course, monsters.

This edition of The Frankenstein Condition includes the incredible illustrations of legendary artist Bernie Wrightson. They are taken from his 1983 Frankenstein adaptation of the original Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley. It included an introduction by Stephen King and approximately 50 detailed pen-and-ink illustrations. Wrightson spent seven years on the illustrations for this passion project. He is also remembered for his work on illustrated versions of Stephen King books, creature design for Ghostbusters and the co-creation of the Swamp Thing.

Sujets

• Santé et bien-être
• Confiance en soi et estime de soi
• Bien-être émotionnel
• Confiance en soi
• Confiance
• Self-help
• Bien-être
• Bien-être
• Bien-être
• Bien-être

Informations

• Publié par: eBookIt.com
• Date de parution: 13 novembre 2017
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781775170129
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

The Frankenstein Condition
or, The Modern Perfectionist
Robert B. Smith
Copyright © 2017 Robert B. Smith
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, and recording or otherwise – without the prior written permission of the author, except for brief passages quoted by a reviewer. To perform any of the above is an infringement of copyright law.
ISBN 978-1-7751701-2-9
Published in eBook format by Freshly Pressed Publishing
Converted by http://www.eBookIt.com
Illustrations:
copyright © Bernie Wrightson, 1983
Cover ‘monster’
Alisha Giroux, 2017
Editor: Diana Leeson Fisher
Design: Robert B. Smith
Freshly Pressed Publishing
1390 Prince of Wales Drive
Suite 103
Ottawa, Ontario Canada
www.frankensteincondition.com
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CONTENTS
PREFACE
The calm before the storm
SHEDDING SOME LIGHT
When things are dark
THE DARK AND STORMY NIGHT
Searching for light
HELLO MY NAME IS VICTOR
Idealism and self-awareness
THE MODERN PERFECTIONIST
Enlightenment and futility
MEET YOUR MONSTER
The thing that goes bump in the night
IN THE LABORATORY
Misdiagnoses, quick fixes and drug shaming
VILLAGERS WITH TORCHES
Anonymity, opinion and the Internet
POSTMORTEM
Of monsters and meaning
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
 
Frankenstein
noun
a person who creates a monster or a destructive agency that cannot be controlled or that brings about the creator’s ruin.
Condition
noun
the circumstances affecting the way in which people live or work, especially with regard to their safety or well-being.
PREFACE
The calm before the storm

So, let’s get this out of the way. I am not a psychiatrist, psychologist or even psychic. I don’t claim to have clairvoyance and I don’t see dead people, although sometimes it can feel like that during meetings. As you can see from the title, I am a fan of Gothic horror and things that go bump in the night. That is, however, not the reason for the theme here. We’ll get into that later.
Who am I? Well, I am a dad, son, professor, business owner, creative director and now author. Instead of playing hockey or other sports, I am a mediocre drummer in a band with some buddies. My full-time gig is business owner and creative director. What the hell is that? Great question. In that capacity, as well as with teaching, my job is to take complex concepts and articulate them in a way that can be easily digested. What I have is observation and experience in dealing with missed expectation and the aftermath. Translation: I’ve made many mistakes and am still around to talk about them. In this book, I will share my journey and the strategies that I have used to move forward. We’ll laugh, we’ll cry—it’s going to be great!
Writing a book? Yeah, I know, it was a great surprise to me that I would write a book. Nothing could be further from my path. As a creative director and designer, I am visual by trade and a problem solver. Basically, I like books with lots of pictures.
It was interesting that when I told my friends and family that I was writing a book, they weren’t surprised. The shocker for them was that it has nothing to do with branding, design, logos or anything associated with my profession. A so-called ‘self-help’ book? Is it design therapy? Logo self-awareness? People lying on my couch while I ask them how the colour red makes them feel? I’ll be honest; it caught me off guard too. But the content just flowed out of me. Don’t get me wrong though, writing this book took a lot out of me.
To use another horror metaphor, this is an exorcism of sorts. The process of writing it all out has been quite therapeutic and cathartic. It made it intensely visceral for me. You can’t ignore it or dismiss it easily. It’s there in front of you. If you are like me, this struggle has existed for a while in your head. We will go through the process and you will need to write things down. Document them. Read them. Homework? Really? Now, before you roll your eyes, keep in mind, this is your monster. Your situation. Not mine. I’m not going to do the work for you. Only you can identify your monster and then dismantle it. This is a process that I will be walking you through.
Finally, aside from making my parents super happy, I wrote this for you. That’s right, you. You are the most important person here. Seriously.
SHEDDING SOME LIGHT
When things are dark
“…the virtues of heroes, and the actions of men were his theme; and his hope and his dream was to become one among those whose names are recorded in story as the gallant and adventurous…”
— Mary Shelley, Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus

Why are you reading this book? Be honest. There must have been something in the title or the description on the back of the book that spoke to you. You’re looking for help, answers or just someone who gets it. Whatever the reason, I’m glad that you picked it up. Hopefully my story can shed some light for you.
This is Not a Book Report
While the characters are familiar and I use parallels to the story, that is where the similarity ends. I am using the broadest interpretation of the monster and its genesis. While Mary Shelley’s book follows an idealistic Victor through his slow descent into depression and darkness, we will begin with the darkness (after all that’s where we are) and journey to a state of clarity and understanding.
Let’s Get Real
So what could I possibly tell you? Am I going to eliminate your monster for you? Is this going to be some sort of an exorcism? Will it hurt? The truth is, it’s your monster. I’m here to help you recognize it, but you are the one who will ultimately dismantle it. And while I may not be a doctor, that’s the point. This is a real journey and not a scenario or theory. It happened. I spent many years managing stress and depression and looking for answers. It took me quite a while to recognize what it was, where it came from and ultimately how to manage it. The key was to own my situation, realizing that it’s through no fault of my friends or family. They’ve been great and I’m very blessed to have such wonderful people around me. You may be in the same situation, or you may feel alone and isolated. In either case, the result is the same. We hide. We get under the blankets. We keep the darkness to ourselves, because we don’t want to bother anybody else or show weakness. We don’t want to reach out for help. So, we suffer alone.
All of this can make you moody, sad or angry. This is about understanding what the source is and confronting it. Unless, of course, you’re an asshole. I can’t really fix that. And the book is not called The Asshole Condition, so let’s move on.
I offer no medical solutions here, only observation and experience. I’m the guy next door that you see walking his dog. The person in line at the grocery store.
Now before you close the book and reach for something written by someone with framed diplomas, hear me out. I’ve been there. This is not conjecture; this is what I’ve been through and I want to take the time to share it with you. Hopefully, you will find some similarities with your situation or recognize it in someone you know. I didn’t write this just for people who are struggling; it’s also for those with someone in their life who may need help. For those people, I hope to shed some light onto what their friend or family member might be going through. Understanding is very important. We can’t be ‘Villagers with Torches’ . It takes a village to raise a child and that same village can bring them down. You’ll read more about this later in the book.
Ultimately, it’s about empowerment and owning your situation. Stepping up. The time of blaming others is over. As I found in my own experience, we build these monsters ourselves and we are the only ones that can destroy them.
Why Frankenstein?
Why characters from an 19th century Gothic novel as a metaphor for a modern-day problem? Was Mary Shelley that prophetic?