Everyone has an opinion.

My brother and I watched Untitled last night.  It was an excellent film, but there was one quote that stuck out to me, made by the aging composer Morton Cabot (played by Ben Hammer).  It was - intentionally and quite brilliantly - the only line of dialogue from the entire movie worth taking to heart.  I had to search around for the exact words.

Mr. Cabot was attending a performance of one of his own pieces, and some jackass came up to him and started art-snobbing, telling him how much he disliked it.  After shooing the guy away negligently, Cabot states, "Everyone has an opinion.  An artist must find meaning... in the process."  That ellipsis folds away some other stuff, but that's the gist.  And it's as good a piece of advice as you're going to hear.  And something I think I'd do well to take to heart.

I'm very concerned with perception, and always have been.  I think I ought to be a little more concerned with my own meaning in things.  Everything exists in a context, and it's the interplay between that context and someone's work which we all tend to find exciting.  That said, context and opinion are fickle, and if you rely on them to lend meaning to things you've created, one, it seems less likely that you're producing something endowed with grand ideas, and two, you're also likely to be disappointed most of the time.  Because most people won't like what you do, or will simply be indifferent.

So find meaning in the process.  Of life, of creation, of travel, of music, whatever.  You'll be happier for the effort.