Originally Posted By: eddie1261
Originally Posted By: JohnJohnJohn
this is YOUR hobby and NOT THEIRS


That phrase is where this starts to split into 2 divergent concepts.

Hobby? Who needs encouragement for their hobby? Stamp collecting, making scrapbooks, gardening, sewing..... those are hobbies. You just do a hobby because you have spare time and not a care in the world about how it turns out.

It is a very different situation when you are paying for a house, feeding a family, keeping a car running.... on money made from music. A lot of people here did that for some portion of their life. Some, like Notes for example, still do. I needed encouragement THEN, when music was how I earned my living, and I had none. I had DIScouragment from people who didn't understand that playing music WAS a job.Now, I write for me and I don't care what anybody thinks.

So level of involvement has a lot to do with this topic. In a way, that lack of encouragement made me better at what I did. The defiant streak in me, and I have that in abundance, drove me to show them they were all wrong. And when I quit playing full time, and soon after I quit completely, it wasn't because I was discouraged by it. I was just bored with it. They did not win. I stopped "racing". When I did the CD 2 years ago, I had 100 pressed and sold 45. But, that was more a labor of love and a bucket list thing. I didn't expect an Album of the Year Grammy for a self produced album. (Good thing, too! LOL!)

So in my case, I have to amend the thread title from Source of ENCOURAGEMENT to Source of Motivation. NOBODY is going to tell me I can't do something.

Dunno why you view those who did not encourage you as your opponents or enemies! "I don't care what anybody thinks." "They did not win." And regardless of whether it is your hobby or your job I don't understand why you would feel entitled to encouragement from others. I don't know your story of course but personally I don't expect others to support or encourage my hobbies or my career! If they do that is a nice bonus and I will definitely return the favor to them.

Last edited by JohnJohnJohn; 08/16/17 02:42 PM.