It's a common childhood fantasy, that you're the star of a TV show, being filmed by hidden cameras. It makes your successes and shortcomings mean something, because there's an imaginary audience there to share them with you. Fully 90% of all my prepubescent actions were carefully calculated moves designed to increase and hold onto viewership. Which totally justifies some stuff.
But if you're an artist, every moment could mean something in reality, for real people instead of just an imaginary audience. Every silent moment of contemplation could yield inspiration for art. It really does make these things worth it. The audience is only there for the best stuff, the stuff of which you're actually kind of proud. You can't pick-and-choose everything that happens to you, if your life is television. But you can pick your best arts to show people.
Not everyone can or even should be a TV star, even imaginarily. But if anyone's got something to say, they can find a way to say it through what they make. That makes it worth it. It's not in some pretend audience, but real people. Infinitely more gratifying.
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