Are you an artist?

I don't have time for a full entry so let me just say this:

All artists are essentially the same, whether they draw or write, play or sculpt or whatever. I've always noticed this.

1. Artists take great pride in their work. It is their baby. It is their life force and a declaration of who they are. They put every ounce of care into it they can--spend hours trying to get the perfect shade for someone's eyes, or finding the perfect way to describe the sunlight filtering through the trees, or waiting for that one little drop of water to fall so they can snap the perfect picture of it. Artist's only produce their best.
2. Artists are their own greatest critic. Artists will slave over their work for hours, trying futilely to realize the perfect vision in their heads. They are convinced their work is never good enough--and yet, if someone else criticizes it, they are crushed.
3. Artists tend not to create because they're good at it...they create because they have so much in their heads that if they didn't get it out, they would go insane. They never get it all out, or ever feel that they do.
   For example, I write because there are so many stories just buzzing around in my head. So many places and characters and names...I can't keep them all inside. I have to write them down. I. Have. To.
4. Artists are kind of insane. They see everything through the lens of their own form. They see winter as poetic death, or love as something similar to gravity. Some would call them melodramatic. They previous point contributes to this--there is a constant flow and outpour of ideas that will never fully be realized, and it's a little heartbreaking.
5. Artists see beauty.
   I've known people who don't see beauty. They think a flower is pretty because it is a flower, not because of the curve of the petals are whatever.
   I see beauty in words. Others see it in paintings, pictures, music, whatnot. Some artists are content just to be surrounded by beauty. Hell, artists crave beauty. They do tend to be a bit cynical, after all. Just a touch.

Obviously....there are exceptions. These are just some things I've noticed.

I would've gone on to say that artists tend to think they/the world are (is?) insignifant, or that they search for beauty because they're surrounded by ugliness or something, but I thought that would be too narrow.

Obviously, I consider myself an artist. I'm not the best writer in the world. I never pretend to be. Words are still my medium, though--ugh. Sorry. I guess I could've written a normal entry, after all. This has just been bothering me immensely.

One last note: I really cannot appreciate, admire, relate to, or stand people who do not see beauty. I really just can't. As soon as I found out they can't, I will lose any shred of good feelings for them. I will immediately know we have nothing in common and I will never be able to trust them with anything.

It makes me sad that there are people like that.