“But you’re an artist, so you have to invent yourself,” his friend said to him as they were driven east on Sunset Boulevard. “I know I have to create a character, something I can market,” the artist replied. “It’s all in the marketing, the branding,” continued his friend. But the artist was worried. “I’m afraid that I will fall into the character I create, and become successful, but forget who I am.”
They sat silent. They had both realized, at the same time, that neither believed in himself enough to step into public without a mask.
And neither were brave enough to take the mask off. Ever.