Do all artists have to suffer? Part of me resists when I ask the question. I don’t want the answer to be yes. But I let go, and the answer, instead, is of a different sort. They have to experience. To live and experience life fully because when you create art, if it’s not true and real, you know.

Even if madness is at the root of some of the world’s great creations, it is hard to imagine that if someone asked each of us to live an entire life of suffering in the service of the arts, we would agree to do so. Even if we might choose such altruism, it’s unlikely we would allow anyone else to make that decision for us.