Respite

I think artists have a special kiss from God: There’s a baby flashing through the sky, down to earth. Here—God throws him a kiss—and it’s a curse on his life forever. A blissful curse. Because he always wants to kiss God back. That’s what talent is and the feeling of creativity: To want to kiss the world back. And when you do your own work you are giving back to God the original blessing. But if you can’t do it, you hold it inside like a terrible curse which eats away at you forever.
—Mendocino Malady, Bobby Markels