If you are an artist, ask yourself the following questions now:

--Will my works outlive me for decades or centuries, or will they be forgotten after my death?

--Will the fans who admire me now be replaced by fans who will continue to admire me even if they never knew me?

--Is my socialization more important than my tangible works?

--Do I produce serious works or do I seek merely to entertain others?

--Does my art speak for itself or is it derivative of others' works?

--Does my oeuvre have a strong, philosophical spine, or am I just whiling away my time doing "cross-stitching"?

--Have I transcended the "self-expression" of children's art and am now seriously devoting myself to my craft?

--Am I able to solve painting problems that continue to stymie other artists?

--What is the critical appraisal of my works?

--What is my personal appraisal of my works?

--Are there pieces among my works that I would consider mediocre?

--Am I merely an amateur dabbler?

--Is my art a grand passion or an incidental hobby?

--After my works have changed lives, will the people whose lives I changed continue to value my works, or will they move on to other, urgent issues?

--Am I more interested in making money and in producing commercial works than in making breakthroughs?

--Am I painting the same thing over and over again so that viewers will say that, once they've seen any of my works, they might just as well have seen all of them?

--Am I using original techniques or am I merely copying the techniques of other artists?

--Am I skimping and saving on materials or do I use the best possible materials to produce my works?

--Am I foisting my works on others or do people naturally gravitate toward me to buy my works?

--After I've sold a painting, am I committed to its cleaning and restoration when necessary?

No matter how cluttered your desk is, it should be able to accommodate a tea light in a glass and cone incense in a proper holder, for these are sweet offerings to the writing gods and goddesses.