Picture this. You've just finished the last stroke of the brush of what you feel is your best painting yet.

You love it. The colors are perfect. The texture, the form, everything is just so.

You sit back, basking in the euphoria, taking in how happy you feel.

You've done a number of these paintings now and are feeling quite confident with what you're creating.

So much so, you snap a picture of it and post it to Instagram. Hashtag artists of Instagram. Hashtag passion piece. Hashtag

commissions available, DM if interested. Click post. Done. You sit for a second, mindlessly

scrolling through, telling yourself, it doesn't matter how many people hit the like button

or even comment. But even as the thought goes through your mind, you're not even noticing

what you're scrolling past. One minute, two minutes, three. You know what? You say to yourself,

I just posted it. It will take a few minutes for the

algorithms to kick in. You set the phone down and start washing the brushes, putting things into

place, distracting yourself with a menial task while in the back of your mind the hamster wheel is spinning.

I wonder if anyone has liked it yet.

Maybe someone has shared it.

I should have at least one or two commissioned inquiries by now.

Let me check.

You turn off the sink faucet, only halfway through cleaning up, and check your phone.

Three, likes.

Two family members, and a third from someone you just started seeing.

Mindless scrolling.

The hamster will.

Spinning.

...