by Colette Rosenhof » Tue Mar 12, 2019 10:39 pm
The expression on Colette's face showed how much Basil's change in mood and actions had surprised her, her mouth agape. It took her a moment to formulate a response before she set the book down and placed her hands atop Basil's.
"Basil, I zought zat we talked about zis. If I try somezing new, I am not changing myself for ozers, I am experimenting. You yourself have told me zat my appearance is not who I am, no?
"My... powers, ze more I use zem, ze better I get at using zem. If someone makes a comment, a suggestion, an idea I have not considered before - and ze idea appeals to me, zen I will try it. Because if I am only doing ze same zings over and over again I will lose my flexibility, I will stagnate. And maybe, MAYBE, I will discover somezing zat works for me, somezing zat I like. But zat does not mean zat I am going to try to be whatever someone else wants or demands of me. Simply because an artist sometimes takes requests does not mean zat zey are obligated to draw everyzing zat is asked of zem, or even to draw it to ze person's specifications. Zey take requests because zey want to test zeir limits, to try zings zey would not normally consider zemselves, because zey like ze idea proposed to zem."
She gave Basil's nose a little tap with a gloved finger. "Let us say zat I have a wonderful recipe for a strawberry tart. And you tell me zat apricots are your favorite fruit. I can experiment wiz ze recipe to see if I can make it wiz apricots, adjust my ingredients until I believe it to be perfect. If I make zis recipe for you, I have not lost my recipe for strawberry tarts, or sworn to never make zem again, or to only ever make apricot tarts. I have simply learned two recipes when I knew only one. And I can use what I have learned to help me in ozer recipes in ze future.
"If I told you zat purple was my favorite colour, would you only wear purple suits for me? I would hope not. But I would not protest if you wore a purple tie on occasion, if you liked ze tie and colour as well.
"... does zis make sense to you?"