'What I had to say to you, moreover, would not take long, to wit: Practice any art, music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting sculpting. poetry, fiction, essays, reportage, no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what's inside you, to make your soul grow'

Kurt Vonnegut

This idea has come up for me repeatedly over the last couple of months (and this is the most eloquently I've heard it expressed) - the act of creating is the most important thing. What happens after it is created is not the goal, it's not what makes it special, it's not what determines if the art is good or not. Creating art is good for your soul, it helps you grow as a person, it brings joy, it is the point of art. Only good can come from the actual act of creating it. 

I can see this with my photography and my writing. When I take photos for the joy of it, when I write what I'm feeling or thinking or imagining, it brings me peace and contentment and I really enjoy it, and it's easy. It doesn't feel like work. When I'm doing it for a deadline or with the thought of making money, I feel pressure, I second guess my decisions, it definitely feels like work.

That's not to say that art shouldn't be sold or used to make money - rather that the money might come as a side effect or a bonus of doing the art, not as the purpose of doing it.