why we fight (for it)

{image: Yayoi Kusama, from here.}

A conversation that my husband Zack and I had a while ago comes back to me all the time when we are navigating the waters of being artists at this time in history. Actually, we've had many versions of this conversation. We agree that success for its own sake is an old awful human foil, and press one another to answer why we do it otherwise. Why do we forsake other sorts of stability or respectability in favor of this often-absurd practice? For me, it comes down to a few lodestar reasons. One is that my life has been moved and touched, shaken and cleaved, made more vibrant and meaningful, by the work of other artists in every medium. A simple formula, really, but something that helps me realign the compass when engaging in this self-directed, ambiguously-shaped "job." Imagine your life without the music, films and books that have hedged it. The word inspire has been overused, but when I think of its etymology (as I have before on this blog) I love the image of being breathed into. The most fitting response has always been to exhale.