When everything is finished and I can finally post it, I watch the comments more than I watch the upvotes, because the comments are what makes this whole thing worth it. Sure, the payout is nice, but I won’t touch any of it that soon anyway. I’m saving it up to pay for my Master’s degree in Immunology and Global Health.
Recently came across a Rothko quote that expresses this sentiment, couldn't really put it any better than he did -
"One does not paint for design students or historians but for human beings, and the reaction in human terms is the only thing that is really satisfactory to the artist."
Sadly there is a lot left to be desired when it comes to that reaction on Steemit. I mainly blame the system encouraging programmatic sycophantic behavior. There are users who are putting forth great effort into commenting, but organic conversation still feels rare.