You Don't Create Art

(February 23, 2005)

Just listen to me. Don't be fooled into thinking that you have any relationship to your art other than one of total submission. Your art doesn't love you; it is capable of loving only itself. What you're seeing is your passion for what you've made, the fire which allows it to feed off of your existence in order to take on its most stunning forms. You are your creations' battery, and they will drain you until you have nothing more to give... and you love them for it. You are a pitiful dreamer pinching the petals off of a daisy as you whisper the names of people and places who never existed, wishing their affections onto yourself without realizing that they were already yours. Don't think I'm complaining; there are few things more precious than a creative idealist, and others love the work of your heart almost as much as you do. But still, you should listen to me. Don't be fooled into thinking that you have any relationship to your art other than one of total submission.