[sublinear]

> You just need to really mean it.

Yes, this is the same that happened to other forms of expression decades or even centuries ago and is extremely well understood. Why blame the canvas?

I think what people actually want is attention and praise for their individual efforts, and that's a very different problem altogether.

At the root of all this is ego and mortality. People much more clearly see their own insecurities now. The inner voice to confront them only gets louder the longer this cultural constipation drags on. The anxiety to feel validated holds it in.

So many great potential artists are afraid to bare their souls and be vulnerable. They're afraid their song will just sound the same as everyone else's and nobody will care. Worse still if everyone hates it or doesn't age well.

Yes, that's what makes art so hard. Of course it is! You do it anyway and stop taking yourself so seriously. Not everyone has to be or should even want to be a rock star. You join the choir at least. We all lose when nobody sings at all anymore.