We often go through life behaving like we’re trying to win a prize. 

But I was thinking the other day…what, exactly, is the prize? 

We’re competitive, constantly comparing ourselves to other people, trying to have more Facebook friends, get more Twitter followers, sell more books, get more press, win more awards, or earn more money. 

And there was a point when those prizes held some level of value for me. They are easy, visible validators of our existence. 

But I realized the other day that except for the almost impossible to curb occasional twinge of natural human jealously over someone’s massive Twitter following, I have lost all of my desire to win for the sake of those prizes.

It isn’t the prizes that matter, it’s the work that matters. And not just any work, but work that is transformed into meaningful art – art that gives the world a prize instead of the other way around.