The author is suggesting finding a corner of the world where you can play a better game. The better game they are suggesting is to hop off the treadmill of exte

The author is suggesting finding a corner of the world where you can play a better game. The better game they are suggesting is to hop off the treadmill of external validation, and figure out how to find it internally instead. Like many or most of us here, I spend a lot of my time around software people. But I just spent a bunch of time this weekend with a group of people for whom music is their way of making money in some way or another; teaching it, playing it, writing it, etc. Something very striking to me is how much different the internal vs. external validation thing is between them and me. These are people who get little external validation, always scraping by with unstable income, struggling for recognition in a crowded field. But they all do it because they just freaking love music, they're excited by the possibilities, and almost always happy when they're playing. On the other hand, most software folks I know are compensated richly externally, but often struggle to find peace and contentment internally.