Artists

"Honey, sit down," says Pablo.

His girlfriend, Olga, is caught completely off guard.

"Pablo, what's going on? You're making me nervous."
"Sit down dear."

She sits down. Pablo joins her.

"Honey I'm blocked, and I think it's your fault."
"What?"
"I can't paint anymore, the creative juices are just not flowing. And I think it's your fault."

"What did I do?"
"It's not you, it's us. We're too stable."
"What?!"
"As an artist, I thrive on chaos. I need freedom and spontaneity and disorder. That is where I thrive. I need new experiences and crazy adventures to have the inspiration to create."
"And you can't do that while you're with me?"
"No. We're too stable. It's boring."
"So you want to break up?"
"Yes, either that or you start acting crazy."

"Oh I get it, you're an idiot."
"No, I'm not! What I'm saying makes complete and total sense."
"How?"
"Well, look at the greatest poets of our time. Eminem, single. Nas, single. Meanwhile, J Cole is married, and no one has underachieved more. Jay Z hasn't been able to write one poem worth listening to since he got married. The proof is in the pudding."

"Okay, first of all, Eminem hasn't made anything worth listening to since 2002."
"Why are you trying to hurt me?"
"You're hurting me! Even worse than that, it's clear you were just using me!"
"I'm an artist, it's what I do!"
"No, bullshit is what you do. You're making excuses. If you want to be a great painter, then paint! Don't give me this nonsense about 'Oh, I don't have inspiration' and 'I need a new muse.' That's nonsense and you know it! If you are truly meant for greatness, then nothing can stop you. But I guess you must not be great."

"You don't get it."
"No, you don't get it! Smoking weed for breakfast and fucking prostitutes is not art! Living a life of hedonism is not art!"
"But living a boring life, is that art? Getting married, having a few children, having a white picket fence, and a two-car garage. That's art?"

Olga is silent.

"What you need to understand is that within me there is a desire to create. To live, to experience, and to create art. That is my purpose, that is my calling. And to pursue that calling, I can't live an average life, a life of stability. I need volatility, I need demons. That's my fuel, that's how I create art."
"And you can't have that with me?"
"No, I don't think so. You like stability, you need it, you want it. And I can't give you that."

There is another pause.

"I can't believe I am about to say this, but I wish you weren't a fucking artist."
"I know."

Another pause.

"And what about children?"
"What about them?"
"Do you still want children?"
"Yes, of course."
"How do you have children without being with someone?"

"What does being together have to do with having children?"