What is success? And how is it measured, especially on creatives and artists? Is it bound to money, fame, and material things? Or is there a bit more to it?

Success is a strange concept, tightly wound to how much money you make and perhaps how famous you are. It often goes hand in hand with “I’ve made it” and “I’m at the top,” as if you’ve reached levels of achievement no one else is capable of. Instead of a co-operative community, we’ve created a cutting space where your unique strengths are measured against the unique strengths of others, and only a small minority fit the success label. They make it. The rest of us are left small and defeated, staring towards the unachievable heights of the successful lot.

Everyone will tell us they’re successful, that they made it, and that we should spend the little money we have to become as successful as them. But no matter how long we try and how much we spend, we’ll never quite get there. And so we’re broke and angry and full of envy, yet we try harder and spend more, lining the pockets of those exploiting our dream of a success that’s true for only a few.

Success isn’t the numbers in your bank account or the notes in your wallet. It’s not your end-of-year bonus or the car you drive, the class you fly on a plane or the number of holidays you take. It’s not the labels on your clothes, the size of your body, the location of your home, or the size of your garden. It’s not an A* or a place at a top university, not a scholarship or your first job earning more than your mates. It’s not coming first in a race and winning the game.

And if you’re lucky, one day you wake up, and you realise what success actually is.

Success is personal. It’s nuanced and small, light and invisible, telling your story – one that no one else knows. It’s showing up for yourself when no one else does, doing your best even when you struggle, working at your own pace and finding joy in your unique progress.

Success is having people in your life, perhaps only a few, who care about you and love you unconditionally. It’s talking with a dear friend until the early morning hours or going for coffee and cake on a Sunday afternoon. It’s moving ahead on your own journey, at your own speed, step by step, moment by moment, without losing sight of what matters most to you, without losing yourself.

Success is staying kind and caring in a world that wants us to be cold and calculated, that wants us to fight and divide us in favour of wealth and power. It’s believing in love as the one thing that matters, and sparking a light in others who are in the dark.

Success is knowing that one day you’ll leave this earth a better place because of the goodness you spread. It’s when those you leave behind want to honour your memory and rejoice in having known you, instead of breathing a sigh of relief that you’re gone.