Serious

... I call the arts “subjective truths” because, unlike math or chemistry, where there is only one solution, there are nearly infinite solutions to, say, a camera angle, colors to use, or an interpretation of a symphony. These solutions need not be right or wrong; they need only to be appealing. Something can be right and pleasing as much as it can also be wrong and pleasing. I immerse myself in these subjective truths.

I am an emotional person. I engross myself in what I play or what I write. I take the very extremes of emotion and empathy, and stretch them even further. My brother once said that it takes a sort of emotional genius to bridge the gap between the arts and beauty. In order to make true art, I must sacrifice part of myself to know what true beauty is. That’s how the deaf Beethoven wrote masterpieces; or, in a more modern setting, that’s how Nina Sayers from Black Swan was a showstopper. I want to think that I have not sacrificed something yet, so that when I finally do, I can finally be proud of my musical ability.

I am proud of the people who support me. It feels good to have people admiring and respecting what I do. From experience, standing alone onstage and acknowledging a thousand people—people I know, people I don’t know, people I may never know—is one of the best feelings in the world, because regardless of whether I know them or not, I will always have a lasting impression on them.

And as right as it was, or as wrong as it was, I will always be satisfied, because I know it pleased them.