Vincent van Gogh died broke, ignored, and convinced he was a failure.

During his lifetime, he painted over 2,000 canvases and only sold one — to his friend’s sister, for beer money.

Critics called his work sloppy; dealers refused to hang it; other artists whispered he was too unstable, too strange, too troubled. He was. But that's beside the point.

Today, people all over the world study, revere, and imitate his colors, brushstrokes, and madness. Hell, you can see The Starry Night at the Museum of Modern Art… or in a Lego set on a kid's bedroom floor.

The very style once dismissed became a cornerstone of modern art.

Van Gogh wasn’t “bad.” He was just creating for a taste that hadn’t arrived.

Most of us don’t notice we're fighting the same fight.

We see blank stares, polite rejections, ghosts in our inboxes, and think: Maybe I’m not good enough.

But what if the world isn't ready — yet?

The early bird gets the worm, but the early bird is lonely for a little while.

That's not a sign to stop. It's a green light.

Stop watering down your work.

Create for the world you want to exist, not the one you have.

Accept that being misunderstood isn't a flaw — it's proof you're early and the world is playing catch up.

This week’s challenge:

Creating for a taste that hasn’t arrived is hard, lonely work. You’re carrying a flag most don’t recognize. People assume you're lost.

You're not.

You're just a few steps ahead.

Next week, we’ll talk about the one person you are creating for — your younger self — and why they might be the only audience worth keeping happy.

P.S. Forward this to another flag-carrying early bird.

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I can’t get P.O.V by the Clipse out of my damn head. It’s the first song I play when I open Spotify — every time.

The Create Differnt. Playlist just crossed 100 songs, many of which came from readers like you. If you’re sitting on some heat, stop gatekeeping and send them my way.

Most creative advice tells you to "ignore the haters." But what happens when your biggest hater lives inside your head?

Santi