Our work is not the same if no one ever hears it. Ever reads it. Ever experiences it.
In music, we've all had students over the years who refused to perform in public. It may have been stage freight. Maybe it was discomfort with crowds. Maybe it was even apathy on occasion.
Mom and dad, not wanting to put their kids in an uncomfortable situation, would say...
We don't want to do the recitals. We just want him to play for fun. For himself.
Almost without exception, these students progressed slower and ended up quitting within a year or two of this conversation.
Our work is not the same if no one ever hears it. Not only because the audience never gets to experience it. But also because we miss out on the opportunity to be changed by our audience. By the experience.
Where would we be if Stephen King only wrote for himself? If George Lucas kept his ideas in a journal, never to be seen? If the Beatles kept a low profile?
We are not only creators of ideas and art, but also publishers. Shipping our art to the world on a regular basis for people to experience.
Whatever form our art takes. And however it's received. We do it again and again.
That's how we grow, and that's how we are changed by our work.
And in turn, that's how we change the world.