Celebrate your creative work
Why do we seek outside validation when we could just celebrate ourselves?
Doing the work to celebrate myself is hard. But I'm starting to see the positive effects on my mood, even though a part of me still judges that as selfish. Maybe that's exactly why we seek outside validation in the first place — so we don't have to wear the label of narcissistic, or selfish, ourselves.
Why do I even care? That's the real question. And I'm not going to try to figure it out today. Instead, I want to take a moment to celebrate the release of my new song. I wrote the lyrics, composed the musical style, and used AI to bring it to life. And there's a story of shame tangled up in that sentence.
Yesterday, I was watching highlights from a Comic Con panel and saw comments from people saying, "We created without using any AI." Those comments stung. They made me feel like my creation was illegitimate.
They don't stop me from using AI, though. Here's proof: there have been 207 days in 2026 so far, and I have written and posted 207 blog posts, and generated 207 AI images. That is me being creative.
So why do those comments still sting?
I use AI to give me access to my creative life. I work as a nonprofit director. I went to college as a music major, and it didn't work out the way I planned. AI has given me the chance to finally do what I've always wanted to do. I don't need to justify my decisions to people I don't know. But there's still this burning need to.
Here's the positive part, though: the story in my head doesn't stop me from being creative anymore. I've conquered that. But that same story is working hard to stop me from enjoying it — and I think that's the real battle. I don't want to be hurt by other people's comments. But negative comments are part of life. When they come, they come.
As for me? I'm going to enjoy being creative.
Check out my latest song, "Smile Through My Tears": https://open.spotify.com/album/4XjzeVWOzCl1O9jK7iO0Q0
When someone questions whether your work "counts," what story does that awaken in you — and whose voice is it really?