Here are some of my thoughts on happiness, self-fulfillment, etc., as related to a friend who was feeling down:

If you don’t do things for yourself there’s never a guarantee that they’re worth anything. I mean, yes, when you draw or write or whatever, you have an audience in mind.. but if you don’t do it for yourself, and you consider that there may never BE an audience, then all that effort is wasted. But as long as you do it for YOU, there’s no such thing as a wasted effort. The appreciation of others is a bonus. The only person guaranteed to be in your life forever is you. So you should do things that make YOU happy. Not to say that you should ignore other people’s wants and such, but if you never do anything for your own sake you’re more likely to feel empty when you’re alone. But if you think about it, making yourself happy does affect the people around you. Even if it isn’t “productive” or obvious, the mood one person is in effects the moods of the people around them, especially the ones who’re closest to them. And personally I believe if you can’t make yourself happy, you can’t genuinely make other people happy, either. ‘Cause it’s not genuine. Like a teary clown, it just doesn’t work. The clown is just twisted and creepy. That’s a different subject. Anyway.. I mean, I guess you can substitute “doing things for yourself” and make it “doing things for God,” since I suppose if you believe in God you believe he’s always with you, too. But other people come and go, so you can’t rely on them to keep you feeling satisfied [with yourself].

That’s my loner’s view on it, at any rate.