A voice

If you hear a voice within you say "you cannot paint" then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced. Van Gogh, Honest tea dixit.

My experience with painting is very limited; I am much more familiar with the voice. This summer there is a Van Gogh exhibition in Madrid with mostly paintings from his period in Arles. During this time there he was extremely productive, painting 70 pictures in around 3 months.

I did not know that before going to the exhibit. I also did not remember that he had shoot himself after that intensely productive period. It makes me wonder if he was ever able to silence that voice or if it just grew bigger as his contemporaries stubbornly did not appreciate his paintings.

There are infinitely many possible answers to that voice. As many as people have lived maybe. It makes me wonder what my answer has been, is.