Barfo

I sometimes take for granted that I get to be an artist. I think in fact that I usually take it for granted. It occurs to me that most of the world feels like they have to suffer in order to enjoy a small part of life. They have to work at a job that they hate so that they can take a vacation or buy a boat. Most of the adults around me growing up instilled the idea that you have to do things in this life that you don't like in order to get to do something that you do like. You have to be unhappy in order to be happy. This never made any sense to me. In fact it made me angry, and I wanted to shout at them and tell them that they were wrong, and I didn't believe them. I don't feel like I have to tell them that anymore. Because I think that for them it's true. But it's not true for me, and it never was. I never believed in a back up plan or a day job, or in suffering to be happy. I won't do it that way. I've always said I would rather be dead than live in a way that I did not believe in. And it's true. But I'm lucky, because I get to do what makes me happy, my art. On a daily basis, and with all of you. And I'm very grateful for that. And if I ever give up on that, I give you permission to shoot me, or put me to sleep, or push me off a boat with some cement shoes.