^{_{I'm not a great writer, so bear with me on this.  I have to wonder as an artist, of course, why in the world people in the art world are so misdirected.  Why they, for the sake of their own little paychecks, or lack thereof, get so crucially ugly - cheat, lie, and even steal to make it.  They steal ideas, they steal opportunities, and the bottom line is they try to steal joy.  But what I find so interesting about this group of people is that they have no talent.   They do not understand their Purpose from God.  They do not paint.  They do not create.  They do not play a guitar, a piano, or a trumpet.   They call themselves important.  But they don't know the first thing about the art of performance.  They can only copy or emulate.   Now those who can say they passed 12th grade Latin with me can tell you that the Latin word for emulate is aemulatis, meaning to strive, to equal, or to excel.     What they miss, however, is that they are sitting on the outside wishing for some joy. They indeed are empty on the inside.   Their knowledge, training,  and experience only carries them so far, and far worse, they truly believe they hold your destiny.   They seem to hardly be able to stand themselves and  have to soothe the pain with some type of self medication.  Sometimes it is with a deep level of insecurity, even though they are playing smooth on the outside.   And so rather than blast them, talk hatefully about them, or even judge them, I would rather challenge them:  paint a painting, play a guitar, sing a song.   Then find the place that you truly belong.  We all know where we belong.  That's why we paint, or play guitars, or sing. If they dare to ever look at you and flippantly diss your passion and joy,  just remember they just want to be full of joy like you.  And when they predict your fate with art, I always just think to myself: Phooey on the fortune tellers.}}