How long can you write if no one is reading?
How much can you work if no one is paying?
As much as we want to see ourselves as steering our own ship, following our own nose, forging our own path — most of us are not Van Gogh.
We need feedback and recognition to thrive. Just enough.
Too little = Van Gogh.
Too much = arrested development.
Enough to know we’re not alone. Not so much that we can’t hear our own voice.