A lovely thoughtful and well written post, John Hardly.

I enjoyed every word of it.

What non artists never get is that, being an artist is probably more about what you reject than what you take aboard for the voyage. And the fierceness with which we have to fight to protect what we believe in - is often translated as negativity.

If what we wanted to achieve already existed , there would be no need for us to become artists.

In Cakes and Ale by Somerset Maugham, Charles Strickland , the visionary painter says something like if a man falls in the water, he has to swim - it doesn't matter whether he swims well or badly - that is what he has to do.

And that is pretty much the predicament artists find themselves in, they are in a situation where they can do no other. James Joyce had to turn his back on family, religion and nationalism.

Surely turning your back on Chris Martin is an easier call.