if you're one of the few who genuinely care/love, it's crushing
There's an upside to disillusionment in that we are stripped of all the ego and false beliefs we hold, as painful as it is. If you're one of the few who genuinely care/love, you'll come to the realizations you did. But the way out of the valley of disillusionment is to realize it doesn't matter how others approach it, because they are irrelevant. You get to do what you love and that's all that matters.
Only the creator will ever truly understand the labor and love that goes into his creation, to expect that level of appreciation or care from others is unwise and irrational. In fact, holding that expectation might even reveal hidden motives that imply one's "love for the craft" is not as genuine as they'd think.
The problem as I see it is that you have to care because the people who are just in it for a paycheck are on your team. Your boss is going to want to know why you aren't as fast as the developers who cut corners in order to get features delivered.
There's an upside to disillusionment in that we are stripped of all the ego and false beliefs we hold, as painful as it is. If you're one of the few who genuinely care/love, you'll come to the realizations you did. But the way out of the valley of disillusionment is to realize it doesn't matter how others approach it, because they are irrelevant. You get to do what you love and that's all that matters.
Only the creator will ever truly understand the labor and love that goes into his creation, to expect that level of appreciation or care from others is unwise and irrational. In fact, holding that expectation might even reveal hidden motives that imply one's "love for the craft" is not as genuine as they'd think.