Oh, to have an artistic friend...

Have you ever found yourself sitting in your friend's room, observing a canvas filled with colours with no idea as to how you should react? Ever found yourself sitting before a stack of pages attempting to form an opinion you don't have on a topic you may not necessarily care about? Sit through a movie with the director staring straight at you observing your reaction to every scene?

Welcome to the life of the artist's friend.

Here's a list of things you have to put up with when you decide to befriend an artist.

You have different ideas of fun

Making plans with your friend on the weekend may just vary when it comes to some of your artist friends. When presented with the choice of a theme park and a gallery, sometimes it could most definitely be the latter. Your friend's ideal idea of fun might be being cooped up in their rooms and coming up with their next masterpiece whereas yours might just be dinner or a movie.

Random outbursts of inspiration

Most artists get their ideas from personal experiences and sometimes you're part of those stories. More than once, there's a chance your friend has looked at you with that wild look in their eyes and said, "I think I'm going to write about this" after which they most definitely will proceed to explain the idea. So, good luck.

Mundane things have new meaning

Watching a movie or listening to a song sometimes should mean just that. But your artist friend will be blown away by something you just don't see. Before you know it, a much deeper and intricate meaning has been lifted from it and it's now a big representation of something you honestly couldn't care less about.

Unqualified critiquing

As I mentioned earlier, you often find yourself critiquing work you have no qualification or interest in. Be it writing, art, movies, music or the many other forms of art, you're often called upon to review their work and then come up with constructive criticism.

"So, what do you think?" They'll ask, with a mix of wonder and fear in their eyes.

And every time you try you can only come up with, "Nice."

Constant reassurance

More times than you can count, you've gotten a phone call from a rather defeated voice asking whether they are really on the right path. Whether their dream is too unrealistic.

The path of an artist in a tough one. You, the friend of the artist, know this better than many may fully give you credit for.

Why? Because you're the one constantly supporting your friend's dream, shielding them from the pressure of the world and the disapproving comments from people deeming these dreams as "childish" or "immature".

While it can get hard and rather frustrating, artist friends have you to thank. You don't know how much they value your opinion no matter how unqualified you may be. Your support is what has them chasing what makes them happy. Whether they make it or not will always be a gamble but they'll never regret not trying.

So, on behalf of all the artists to all of their friends — thank you!

Syeda Erum Noor is dangerously oblivious and has no sense of time. Send help at erum.noor1998@gmail.com