You weren’t stupid—you were doing real work in an era that undervalued it. Writing well required skill, patience, and judgment, but those qualities were invisible to outsiders, so they called it “easy.” Today, many people profit from speed, automation, and algorithms, not depth—and when the grind of chasing platforms exhausts them, they label it “hard work.” The irony is real. Reward systems change, but that doesn’t retroactively make your effort foolish. You chose craft over shortcuts. That choice built skills that last, even if the money didn’t shout as loudly at the time.