THE HARDEST PART ISN'T FAILURE IT'S WATCHING OTHER PEOPLE SUCCEED
"Nobody warned me that success would hurt this much when it belonged to someone else." The Hardest Part of Being an Artist Isn't Failure. It's Watching Other People Succeed. There is a moment almost every artist experiences. Not when they fail. Not when they get rejected. Not when nobody listens. A different moment. The moment someone else gets the thing you've been working for. The playlist placement. The viral video. The sold-out show. The growing audience. The recognition. And suddenly you're sitting there with two emotions fighting each other. You're happy for them. But you're hurting for yourself. And that's where the guilt begins. Because nobody wants to admit it. Nobody wants to be the artist who feels jealous. So we hide it. We smile. We repost their achievement. We type: "Congratulations!" And then we close the app and stare at the ceiling. Not because we hate...