a tower of tired

wanting your art to connect with others is the same: no one is obliged to interact with it and you have no control over whether they do or not. you must accept this. your mood can't be reliant on the decisions of others, let alone strangers--happy when you get engagement from them, sad when you get less.

I'm not saying it's selfish to want validation, attention, or connection. your feelings are real and I've FELT them. I still feel them. but other people have a choice of whether to give you those things or not, whether in everyday situations or online, and you have to accept that choice. the only thing you can control is you.

it’s because once you get to a certain level of internet-popular, you start to realize that it’s Never Enough.  no matter how popular that one thing you made was, eventually it tapers off and you crash and you have to work for the next hit.  until you burn out.

Success (at least in my experience) comes from building a solid network/community of other artists and friends you can interact with, who you lift up and will also lift YOU up both in up times and down times!

I have never felt more connected and satisfied with sharing my art than I have this past year or two and that's because I have stopped trying to build a following - yes it feels nice to see Number Go Up, but more than anything it feels really nice and is genuinely so much more fun to share art and have multiple friends I've made hype me and it up. I'm not posting for the algorithms, I'm posting for my friends to see my stupid oc art and pog IRL about it.

And for people wondering how you can even make art friends organically: Comment on other artists work! Hype them up! Be willing and ready to make the first move in that regard - everyone is worried about looking kind of stupid or saying the wrong thing.