[zooyorkcity]

I am a graffiti artist (23) who has been painting for about 6 years of my life. I met my girlfriend (20) almost 4 years ago (actually through graffiti)... She really liked it back then and she still does but doesn't seem to as much anymore. This is evident whenever I choose to go out and paint. If I go out at night to do a spot or even when I do legal murals she seems to get angry at me. She feels that I am picking graffiti over her. I invite her to come along to the legal spots, but she just goes "what am I going to do while you're painting?" Then she calls me angrily on the phone the whole time and I end up losing my concentration.

I feel that she doesn't understand that graffiti is NOT a woman that I am cheating on her with. It is a very strong passion that I have and something that I really love to do. I love my girlfriend with all my heart, but she doesn't seem to have any passion in life (except for me). I am not sure if that is so healthy for her. This causes her to be really needy when I'm not around. We actually live together so its not like I don't see her every single day.

I can also understand that she worries about me getting in trouble, but I don't go out recklessly like I used to when I was younger. Whenever we paint, we plan our spots and the risk of getting caught is all a part of the lifestyle. I really love my girlfriend and I want to marry her eventually. However, I don't want to have to change because I was this way before I met her. There's so much more to this, but does anyone have any advice for me....