Some time ago, I transcribed many of the “final thoughts” offered by the talk show host Jerry Springer; thoughts about transsexuals, mothers who slept with their daughter’s boyfriends, criminals and freaks. Then I thought, “What if each time he was talking about artists?” – Sheila Heti

1. Some of us might wonder what make a person come on a show like this to divulge their problems to millions of people. It seems sick, or we say to ourselves, “I would never do that.” But even the people who do come on this show have to, in the end, square their choices with their morality and their God. It’s all about being honest and asking yourself what you really can do, and whether the price is worth it. Because whatever you might think the price is now, you won’t ever know the true cost, not until it’s way too late.

2. A good many people want to make a living in art – you see them all the time; they have fantasies of being a writer or a painter or a dancer. The truth is, very few of these people will actually make a living in art – the rest will end up back in the service sector, waiting on tables, some might even get into exotic dancing, others might take up posts at the university and start teaching. None of these lives are bad ones, but they’re not the ones these people had the hopes of living. Are we to condemn them forever? Or are we going to try and understand that the situation is oftentimes beyond their control? They simply do not have the talent, or the connections, to allow them to live the lives they want to live. If this was our own son and daughter, would we stop loving them simply because they had dreams of making it big on the stage, or in a career that few people actually respect? No way.

3. It’s hard enough being an artist without people looking down at you all the time. That’s what makes these people act out in ways we often find intolerable. But we must understand that it is the condemnation of the many that makes them take that path. If we tried to treat them like everybody else, things would turn out differently – they wouldn’t feel the need to act out. One only acts out when one needs attention and love that is sorely lacking in their lives. I hope things turn out well for our guests, but I’m not so sure they will.

4. We call them freaks, oddities – we might even point and stare. But to point...