We all need appreciation and recognition every now and then. For what we do. For who we are. Probably no one is excepted from that human feeling.

As some of you know I write for a Dutch publication Reporters Online that works with independent journalists. I’m grateful that they publish my articles. Sometimes I receive donations and each quarter I have an overview of the royalties in my e-mailbox. These are royalties of the app Blendle. All my articles for Reporters Online you can find on Blendle. For people who don’t know this app yet: Blendle contains a huge collection of (audio) articles from all sorts of magazines and (foreign) newspapers. I find this app very useful. Check it out here.

Of course there’s lots of competition of other writers on Blendle, especially those working for popular publications, but it happened a few times that I saw my article in the daily selection and in the Blendle green future newsletter. And my story about Ibiza’s dolphin woman was once picked as a bedtime story. Every evening Blendle sends you a bedtime (audio) story, mostly feel good stories about travel. It was such a thankful surprise to see my story there.

I mostly share my writings on my blog, on Medium, social media (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook) and LinkedIn to have them out there in the world. 

But lately I wonder why I’m doing this, why I write in general as comments are rarely, positive or negative, and people actually never share my articles. I was fully aware of this somewhat uncomfortable feeling when I suddenly received a couple of encouraging comments. And this time it wasn’t by my man, my mother, sister or brother, who are my biggest supporters and often show their appreciation for my articles. I haven’t realised until this very moment that appreciation of one’s work is more important than I ever imagined. Since I need to keep my motivation up and only I can do that, as there’s nobody I’m working for, isn’t always easy.

However, I stopped with sharing my articles on LinkedIn as I felt it doesn’t make any sense. The lawyers and people working in the legal sector which are most of my contacts on LinkedIn aren’t interested in my stories at all, at least there’s no sign of it. No one giving a thumb up or commenting. Also Facebook seems to work much better for other goals (holiday and party photos!) than sharing serious articles. 

Despite all, to write while nobody is reading can be still worthwhile. It’s about the writing itself and the joy and satisfaction it brings. Often I think about Henry David Thoreau whose work nobody was interested in during his lifetime (can you believe it?). He published his own book and more than half of his bookshelf was filled with copies of this book that nobody wanted to buy. The famous writer Emerson was his friend, whose work people do wanted to read. Yet, he kept going and believed in his writing. Now most people know Thoreau of his meaningful book Walden and his poignant essay Civil Disobedience.

One of the main reasons why I write is to make sense of this world. Often it’s just therapy. Expressing thoughts and finding arguments. The other night I was awake and negative emotions had a hold on me. I thought I could better quit writing and find a proper job that pays well. But writing articles about topics I care is my work and to me it’s important. I would rather be a poor writer than an unhappy lawyer. 

Why I tell you this? I don’t share my disappointment just so you’ll like my stories and ask for your sympathy. It’s just as I realise every human being needs support, appreciation and recognition. The feeling to be seen. Yes, a part of it is ego, but certainly not all. It’s a human desire to feel worthy, to feel what we say does count. We’re not in this world to be dependent of one’s approval, but we can support each other, even if we don’t always agree. To feel supported and loved is what makes us human after all.

Con Amor,

Eva