Let me confess I feel stupid. I am bad at navigating the intricacies of communication, language, message and meaning. I am also very quick to jump in the next fashion, or so I think. And as I read your piece I was ready to create an Instagram account and start finding colorful pictures to illustrate my poems, and hopefully sell a few.

I will not deny that even though my earnings in Medium are maybe enough as to buy some coffee, I would not be upset if I could create the persona that this authors that seem larger than life seem to have. Even though I know that this persona would probably not be me, and by not being me, my artistic authenticity would sink.

But then again, whom am I to call myself an artist, and who wants to hear a middle age man crying about his disappointments, or how life didn’t turn the way he wanted.

I once heard someone saying that the artist is the one who can bring up joy. I may add beauty.

Possibly your critique of the Instagram artist is that they steer away from those ideals and move towards the one of filling up their pockets, or even worst, bringing attention to themselves in an egomaniac way. Which is the society as we have turn in today. This crazy act of art as a cry for attention versus the creation of something better, in which true emotion is present.

I’m not sure where I am going with this rant, Vaishali. Maybe trying to understand where are you coming from. Possibly trying to say I feel stupid for not understanding, and being willing to sell my soul to the devil, in the name of a couple of likes…