The One about the Conflicted Artist...

 - Vancouver, British Columbia -

"Dear Nathan,
I am an artist. I paint and I love it more than anything else in the world. I love capturing landscapes and everyday human interactions. The problem is that my mother wants me to go to university, not for art, but to become a lawyer. This is the last thing I want to do. I hate confrontation. Which is why I don't know how to tell her that I can't. She's a single mother, but is still willing to pay my way through university. How she will, I don't know, but I feel like she thinks I am her one chance to move up in the world. What should I do?

Sincerely, A Conflicted and Tortured Artist"

NO: Unfortunately, confrontation is the only solution. I'm telling you now, do what you love. You're mother sounds like she cares for you very much, and loves you like nothing else. You have to be upfront with her and tell her that your heart lies with painting. If you hate the prospect of going to university to be a lawyer, you will most likely not do very in schooling as a result. At least in my own experiences, I've noticed that I don't get by well if I'm doing something that I absolutely loathe. That's unfortunately as short as my advice really gets for this matter. You need to talk to her. I can almost guarantee that there won't be a fight on your hands. Maybe a sad, heated discussion, but in the end this is what you want. This is what you love. Your mother will understand. Sure, she will be disappointed, but that's how things go sometimes. But I can promise you, if you go to school for arts, and graduate there, your mom will be at that ceremony, taking photos, smiling tearfully at how proud she is of her little girl.

- NO