Rick Remender Instagram – The first rule of art: Don’t compare and despair. Some people will be more popular than you, some people will receive more awards than you, some people will objectively have more talent than you. Comparing yourself to any of these things is the death of art, it’s the death of the beautiful place where your desire to create comes from originally. We all do it. No matter the amount of success you achieve or the degree of expertise in your craft, your brain will always want to slide into this mode. Or at least mine does. But one of the wonderful parts of having some age and wisdom is that I immediately shut it down. Make what you want and make it how you want and with who you want. Fearlessly express your truth, avoid conformist thinking, and listen to your intuition. Better to swing and miss with your own bat, than to use someone else’s. It’ll land you where you belong.