An artist who is convinced he/she should be creating and releasing stuff that connects and is accepted will always have the issue of validation at the back of their minds. You always think "I hope people are going to like this" No matter what anyone says we all want to be liked, accepted and validated.

OK what exactly do I mean by validation? I just simply mean that feeling of being approved. Online social networking plays right into this idea, I mean what do you think the buttons "like" or "dislike" on YouTube are there for? Same thing with Facebook . We all at some point have wanted to be liked. When we see a lot of "likes" on something we post we do feel good about it. This is pretty basic.

The thing is if that is the main reason you do what you do as a creative you might not last long. My personal conviction is a deep love has to be the main motive for being creative. It has to come from primarily a place of passion and love for what you do. This is my belief. It has kept me going. 

Another thing that has kept me going is my faith that if I do my very best and there is a  higher purpose that my creative work is participating in, i.e the glory of God and the upliftment of others, then at those times I have a Divine approval and stamp no matter what the external circumstances say. I might or might not be popular but that should never be my main motivation or yardstick to gauge whether I am doing well.

Maintaining this mindset is VERY hard because the world I am in doesn't generally have this view. I am definitely in the minority with this kind of worldview. There will always be that tension when it comes to this idea of validation and being liked. The only way I battle this is by constantly and consistently returning to the main reasons I do what I do in the first place.

Another thing is I am a social being. It's just how we are all wired. I think what I need to do is try to focus on how I can be a blessing to others consistently and not how "important" I am to others. This is easier said than done but necessary to keep me motivated, inspired and effective.