I asked you what you took up at university.

You hesitated and said ‘Literature’ with a sheepish, tentative laugh and I’m secretly dismayed at what society has done to you, has done to us. When did we start putting such a low premium on the arts? Ever since our parents told us to do away with ‘childish’ pursuits and enter the ‘real world’? Ever since we realized that the arts won’t always put food on the table?

But music, poetry, dance, film—they’re who we turn to when we need to feed our souls, who sustain us in our often methodological, dreamless world. The so-called ‘real world’. To be able to do that for life and by choice, to fill your days with love and joy and grief through words and pages, that is something to aspire to. It’s a gift and I wish that you could see that one day. 

Your witty comebacks and thoughtful asides, oh you got that from the arts.