How to keep going with no encouragement

"You great star! What would your happiness be, had you not those for whom you shine?"
                                                                                                              - Thus Spoke Zarathustra

You may have some hobby or passion or interest which may not seem practical or important to other people. Or may be it's not an ambitious one. You get few moments of courage and determination to pursue it anyway. You even succeed at making baby steps towards it. You don't care about the practicality and you get content with the happiness it gives you and get all excited about the product/output of it.

However you may not have full blown courage to share your work with the world. You get scared that you may be judged.

You share it with some of the people who are close to you or even better ..with strangers who don't know you. You are apprehensive of how they will perceive it. Some may feel happy that you are doing something for yourself, review your work and actually give some feedback. Some may be excited for you and tell you how awesome you are doing, even if you are doing just okay. Some may just ignore it as they are too busy - this may be the case with some of the people who are very important to you. Slowly, people get busy, they have their own lives and their own problems and challenges to deal with. So the feedback and appreciations dwindle day by day.

When you are already struggling and then realize that there's no support system too, sometimes you feel awful and may even think of just giving it all up.

Even Calvin knows that the struggle is real

You start thinking that your hobby is lame and may be..ugh you are so lame. You are just wasting your time.

But...did you not always love doing it? Did you not go to extremes and put all your effort for your work? After all the struggle, did you not feel..may be little happy by the output?

Audience. Feedback. Encouragement. Sure, all these are very important.

But not quitting your passion is the key. Your passion is the root. All the above things are just a kind of nourishment to the root.

Now here is what my first hero(the first one I got so overly obsessed with) - Howard Roark says in 'The Fountainhead':

Henry Cameron: Why did you’d decide to become an architect?
Howard Roark: I didn’t know it then. But it’s because I’ve never believed in God.
Henry Cameron: Come on, talk sense.
Howard Roark: Because I love this earth. That’s all I love. I don’t like the shape of things on this earth. I want to change them.
Henry Cameron: For whom?
Howard Roark: For myself.

This is the most simple logic : Why?
Now if you are clear about that, then do not quit.

Having said that, it's fine to fall out of love with your passion and find a new one. It's fine if your interests are evolving. You don't always like the same things you liked as a child. Your interests change and grow as you grow. So make sure that 'it makes me happy' is part of the answer to the 'Why?'.

When you feel like quitting, remember why you started in the first place. 

Don't take it personally if people are not being supportive. Remember that everyone is dealing with a myriad of things everyday. You may not be supportive when they need you too - without even realizing it.

Sure it's great to feel a pat on your shoulder sometimes, to share your struggles and actually be heard. But sometimes you may not get it, that's the time for you to be there for yourself.

Ever loved someone so much, you would do anything for them? Yeah, well, make that someone yourself and do anything to make their dreams a reality.

For all the people who are going through something like this, you are doing great! No, I am not just saying that. You started something, you are trying to take baby steps, you are learning, struggling, making small sacrifices. So you are really doing great. You may not be where you wanted to be yet, but hey, you are going on the right path!
Keep going!

~