Lucid Waking

Love and Appreciation

        “I just want to be appreciated,” she said her eyes growing dewy. “Is it so hard to ask for an artist to be appreciated?”
        “Maybe we should make tee-shirts: ‘Have you hugged an artist today’?”
        “I’m serious, Tom. And you should start appreciating me too.”
        “I do appreciate you.”
        “More than just my cooking.”
        “Hey, I like your company too.”
        “Honestly?”
        “Absolutely.”
        “Then tell me why I never see you at any performance. You’re not at the ballet, I can’t get you to go to the symphony or an art museum; you hardly read any good literature. I love you; but you are most certainly not an artist. I’d help you learn these things if you want to but all we ever do is go to the pool or see a Hollywood film downtown. If you appreciated me, you’d appreciate my work, too.”
        “You’re a fantastic photographer and dancer and cook and pianist. Why do I have to tell you this over and over again?”
        “Don’t tell me. Words are not truth. Actions speak more than words. Come to a show. I have one Tuesday night. Stay afterwards until everyone is gone and wait for me. You don’t have to say anything; you don’t have to bring flowers. Just please be on time and stay to watch.”
        “That’s all you want?”
        “That’s everything. I said I loved you and I don’t want to let you go, but I’m not going to continue this if I don’t get support from you. Art is all I have and I need one of the people I respect the most to appreciate me and my art.”
        He pulled her in closer to him and brushed her hair gently with his hand. “I promise I’ll be there. Just for you.”

“Not much between despair and ecstasy”

Love and Appreciation